The Naomily Clause
by marsupial1974
Summary: Naomi, Freddie and Cook have been a part of The Assembly of Legendary Figures for thirty years. Naomi finds out she has to get married by Christmas Eve or else Christmas will be lost forever... A little bit of holiday fun, Naomily style.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, now I know I've left you guys hanging for the moment on "The Road to Wimbledon" and "The Beauty With In the Beast", but it'll only be until after the first of the year...not that long away:)  
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**But as some of you may know, I usually hate Christmas time, but the last couple of days, I've been amusing myself with this little tidbit... A little Naomily, Christmas style, to help with my depression...**

**Let me know what you think... should I keep going? It would be a short one, so...**

**disclaimer: I don't own Skins, but if someone gave it to me as an Xmas gift, I promise I'd bring back Naomily the right way;)**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 1: Claus and Effect<span>**

_November 23, 2014 10:59 pm_

Naomi sat in her office, going over the lists. She always checked them twice, even though she had never made a mistake the first time around.

But rules were rules. And Naomi Campbell learned the hard way what happened when you broke the rules around here.

She stopped what she was doing to reminisce about that first year she was here. Oh what a joyous time that had been!

Naomi shook herself out of her reverie, and got back to the task at hand. She was almost finished, when a knock sounded on her door.

"Enter!"

"Ma'am, you're needed down on the floor A.S.A.P." The curly haired young looking man stated nervously.

"Shit! What is it now, JJ?" Naomi asked, exasperated.

"Well, it's just that...well...Freddie and...,"

"Spit it out, JJ!"

"Freddie and Cook are going at it again." He managed to get out without any further stuttering. "It's getting quite violent this time."

Naomi surged up out of the chair and stormed out of her office. She blew past workers left and right, as they knew to scatter when she had that look on her face. Her black boots slapped on the wooden floor thunderously, announcing her arrival on the manufacturing floor.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?" She bellowed out, as the workers that had gathered around two young men cleared away from the scuffle. "Freddie?" She eyed the taller boy, noting the blood trickling from his nose. "Cook?" Naomi swung her gazed to the light brown haired boy, as he wiped the blood from the cut in his eyebrow.

Neither one of them wanted to answer, but they both knew it was inevitable. Naomi had a talent for making you tell the truth.

"Every year you two come to blows. Why can't we get through one Christmas without you trying to kill each other?"

"It weren't my fault, Naomikins! This funsponge is the one responsible this time." Cook stated, heatedly.

"Freddie? Is that true?" She asked him, watching as his head dropped.

"Yes."

Both of you, in my office right now!" She waited until they left the floor before she turned to JJ. "Jay, can you please get them working again? We've got a deadline to meet and I need to keep Cook and Freddie from murdering each other."

"Sure thing, Nai." He turned to get back to work when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Naomi?"

"Yeah?"

"Lara has asked that you join us for dinner tonight. She says that things need to be dealt with and the sooner the better." He smiled at her.

Naomi sighed, running her hand through her long blonde hair, before agreeing with him. "Fine. Yes! I'll be there, yeah?" She turned and followed after Freddie and Cook.

* * *

><p>"<em>EFFY<em>? You are fighting over Effy? _Again_?" Naomi looked at her friends, disgust written all over her face. "When are both going to learn?"

"But, Nai-," Freddie started to defend himself.

"No, Freds. No buts! Effy fucking Stonem will never give either one of you the time of day!" Naomi stated emphatically, hoping that this year, she gets her point across. Freddie looked dejected, and Naomi felt bad about it, but it had to be done.

While Cook had only been looking for a shag, Freddie actually had feelings for the elusive brunette and while Naomi completely understood why, she knew that Effy would never commit.

"Listen, you both are my friends, and I really hate when the two of you fight." Naomi said softly, fixing her eyes on Freddie's. "We've been mates a long, _long_ time, Freds. Some might even say too long, but...," she smirked, trying to coax a smile from him, as Cook howled out his laughter.

"Too fuckin' right, she is!" Cook added. "Listen mate, what say we all head out on the pull tonight? We can zip over to Canada or even Sweden, find us a few hotties and go mental?"

Naomi knew that look that suddenly appeared in Cooks' eyes. "Hey, dicksplash! No! That's why we're here in the first place!" Naomi reminded him, sending all three of them deep in thought.

_December 24, 1984 11:59 pm_

_Laughter carried up and down the street, as revellers partied, spilling out of pubs and clubs, searching for the next drink. Three of those merrymakers trudged through the snow, feeling no pain or the cold that whipped around them._

_"Oi, Blondie! Tell me again why we're out here?" Cook asked loudly, slurring his words. "We could be back at the room, getting cosy wiv each other."_

_Naomi groaned in answer because she had simply run out of words to shoot him down with, as she pulled out the bottle of vodka that she had in her coat pocket and took a drink, trying to drown out the day that had happened, actually trying to drown out the season altogether._

_She hated Christmas. Her father left on Christmas when she was seven, leaving her and her mother alone. Every Christmas for the next three years, when she would write her Christmas list to Santa, she would put her fathers name at the top. By the time she was ten, she became disheartened and lost all faith and belief in Santa Claus._

_She changed then, and no matter what her mother did, nothing would change Naomi's view that Christmas, and more importantly, Santa Claus, was a lie._

_So, in the spirit of rebellion, she was out with her two best mates, drinking themselves into an oblivion so deep that she prayed would last until after the New Year._

_"Cook, stop being a wanker! You know she's never gonna shag you!" Freddie laughed at him, winking at Naomi, making her smile._

_They continued on, walking and drinking, paying no attention to their surroundings, until they came to a festive looking street, all lit up with Christmas lights._

_"Ugh! C'mon guys, let's cut through the ally." Naomi stated as she eyed the scene with disgust and led them around the back of one of the houses._

_They were half way down the ally when a noise from above stopped them in their tracks._

_"I don't understand how he does this every year!" A voice shouted out. "It's almost like he's on speed or something!"_

_"Shhh! Keep it down, Cupid!" Another voice replied. "The whole point is not wake anyone up."_

_Naomi looked at her friends, gestured toward the roof and warned them to be quiet. 'Ha! Serves 'em right for believing in this stupid arsed holiday!' She thought to herself, as the house was being robbed. But who the fuck names their kid "Cupid"?_

_"Listen, Sandman, I don't care if anyone's awake or not, I just wanna go home, alright! I still don't get why we have to be here anyway?" Cupid stated forcefully._

_"We're here because you slept with Father Time's girlfriend!" Sandman shouted back._

_"How was I supposed to know who she was?"_

_"How about the fact that she's always with him? Did you ever think of that? Do you ever use that big big head of yours, or is it the little one that's always in control?" Sandman was pissed off that he was punished as well for Cupid's fuck up._

_"Shh...the big guy's coming back up." Cupid said quickly. "Get over by the sleigh and wait."_

_Down below, Naomi, Cook and Freddie were trying to contain their laughter as they listened to the conversation from above._

_"I think someone's left the loony bin in a hurry." Cook barked out loudly, causing Freddie and Naomi to laugh._

_"I think you're right, Cookie!" Freddie agreed._

_"OI! What are you fuckers doing up there?" Naomi yelled up, as the tree of them stepped away from the house so they could get a look at who was up there._

_She saw two guys, one of them dressed in a bath robe and another one dressed in what looked like a short toga._

_"What was that?"_

_Naomi scoffed. "Down here dickhead!" Both men scooted to the edge of the roof and looked down, finding Naomi and the guys staring back at them. "You are aware that burglary is a crime, right?" She crossed her arms and stood waiting for their answer._

_"We weren't...,"_

_"We're not...,"_

_The both started at the same time, stammering in embarrassment._

_Naomi was about to respond, when a big guy popped out of the chimney. "What the fuck? What the hell are you guys doing up there?" She asked again, more forceful this time, wondering how drunk she really was._

_The chimney guy was startled by the sound of her voice, and lost his footing. As he started to slide off the roof, the other two rushed to help him._

_What happened next shocked Naomi, Freddie and Cook almost sober._

_Sure enough, there was a sleigh up on the roof, and when the two went to help the big guy, they jostled it, and it started sliding off as well._

_Naomi watched as the older guy landed right in front of her with a grunt and just as she was about see if he needed help, a yelp and a scream had Freddie pulling her out of the way, as Cupid and Sandman were caught by the falling sleigh._

_The result was a wooden splintery mess, as the ancient carriage clattered to the ground, trapping all three of the burglars under it._

_Cook and Freddie rushed to lift it off of the men, but it wasn't looking good for them._

_"What do we do?" Cook asked, stunned by what had happened._

_Naomi thought for a few seconds. "We find out who they are." She said. "Freddie, grab that one," she pointed at bath robe guy, "and Cook, you grab that one...check their pockets." She said as Cook looked around the small toga for a pocket._

_That left her with the big guy. She knelt down, checking for a pulse, but sadly, didn't feel one._

_She rifled through the big red coat he had on, which incidentally, had about a million pockets, before finally laying her fingers on something._

_She looked over and saw that Freddie and Cook had something in their hands too._

_"What's that?" She asked._

_Freddie looked at the card in his hand. "It looks like a business card. You?"_

_"Business card." Cook said, while glancing at Naomi._

_Naomi held hers up, showing them. "Business card. Hmm...," she squinted in the darkness, trying to read what it said. "The Assembly of Legendary Figures...what the fuck is that?"_

_"Uh, guys?" Freddie called out._

_"What?" Naomi watched as he read the back of the card, and intrigued flipped the one in her hand over._

_Five words, written in scrolled lettering. A request of sorts. One that baffled the shit out of Naomi._

_"What does yours say?" Freddie asked Cook and Naomi, confused by his card._

_Cook suddenly looked horrified, as he looked down at the toga wearing guy. "No fucking way! I am not drunk enough for this!"_

_"What?" Naomi stepped over to glance at the card._

_Another five words, same scrolling script._

_"Hmm, what about you, Freds?"_

_He held the card out to her as he too, looked at the men laying at their feet._

_"This is fucking freaky!" Naomi said as yet again, another five words presented themselves. She handed the card back to Freddie._

_'PUT ON THE RED COAT' Naomi's said._

_'GRAB THE BOW AND ARROWS' Was on the back of Cook's card._

_'GRAB THE BAG OF SAND' Were Freddie's instructions._

_"I say we just call the cops and go." Naomi stated, not wanting to get involved any more than they already were. After all, it was an accident, wasn't it? She was merely trying to stop a crime in progress, it's not her fault they slipped off an icy roof._

_Freddie and Cook agreed, and they started to leave, with Naomi pulling out her mobile._

_"Holy shit!" Cook cried out._

_Naomi and Freddie turned to see what he was on about when the carnage started disappearing, piece by piece. But when it couldn't get any stranger, the bodies slowly started to disintegrate into dust that swirled around the spots where they had lay._

_Naomi stepped closer, putting her mobile away. She realised that she still had the business card in her hand when it started to heat up._

_"Um, maybe we'd better do what the cards say." Freddie suggested, as he felt the heat as well._

_"Fuck it!" Cook stated. "Everything once, yeah?" He smirked at his friends and stepped over to where Cupid landed, finding the only thing remaining. A golden bow with a quiver full of arrows. He reached down and picked them up, when he felt a surge of electricity rip through him._

_Freddie was just pulling a heavy golden bag from the pile when he felt the same thing that Cook had. "Whoa! That'll definitely wake you up!" He exclaimed._

_Naomi stood resolutely in her spot, card burning in hand, refusing to do as it said._

_"C'mon, Nai, you've gotta do it. I think we're suppose to." Cook said, trying to coax her into it._

_"No fucking way! I don't know what's gonna happen."_

_"Naomi, do it!" Freddie said, watching as the red coat started to singe at the cuffs and hem. "It's starting to burn." He pointed to it._

_"For fucks sake! Fine!" Naomi scowled as she reached down and grabbed the coat. She put it on and patted out the smouldering spots. "Happy now?"_

_Suddenly she felt the rush of electricity throughout her body, and while it wasn't totally unpleasant, it didn't feel like anything she had ever felt before. She started hearing voices in her head, softly, quietly and a sense of urgency filled her._

_"Now what?" Cook asked, scratching his head, while Freddie shrugged in response._

_That's when they heard it._

_It was quiet and far off, but it was getting closer. It was the sound of sleigh bells, and snorts from large animals._

_Naomi rolled her eyes as a large sleigh dropped from the sky, landing at the end of the ally and came toward them._

_It was guided by a large, unkempt looking man._

_"Oh fecking hell!" The stranger looked at the three of them as he brought the carriage to a stop. "And just what the bloody hell happened here? It was Cupid's fault, wasn't it? Never could trust that sleazy little bastard!"_

_"Who are you?" Freddie asked, feeling a pull to go._

_"Who do I look like?" The driver asked._

_"Well, you kinda look like my college politics teacher." Naomi was squinting at him, cocking her head to the side. "But I'm guessing you're not."_

_"Good fecking guess, lass." He smirked, then jumped down from the sleigh. "Father Time, at your service, but you can call me Kieran. I'm guessing you found the cards?"_

_The three friends nodded, too shocked to say anything else._

_"Good, good...now, let's get a move on, shall we?" He gestured to the sleigh. "There's a lot of work to do, and the old man was only halfway done."_

_"What are you talking about?" Naomi asked, wearily._

_Kieran looked at her, noticing for the first time, her defensive stance. "Oh Christ! You don't believe, do ya?"_

_Naomi glanced at her friends quickly. "Believe in what?"_

_Kieran threw his hands up in the air. "Seriously? Chris Cringle? Father Christmas? St. Nick?" He asked, watching the young girl in front of him. "Santa Claus?"_

_Naomi started laughing. "Alright pal, I think you've had too much to drink tonight. Do you want us to call you a cab?"_

_Kieran waited until she was done. "Did you guys even read those cards before you followed the instructions?"_

_The three of them looked confused. "Of course we read them." Naomi stated indignantly. "We're not stupid."_

_"Really?" Kieran questioned, "because if you had you would know what you've just taken on." He stepped closer to Cook, looking him over. "You are now Cupid." Kieran did the same with Freddie, "you're the Sandman. And you," he came to stand in front of Naomi, "are now Santa Claus!"_

_"Bullshit!"_

_"Read the cards again. Right now."_

_As if they were all one unit, Naomi, Cook and Freddie lifted the cards up again, looking at them really hard._

_"Oh, fucking hell!" Naomi couldn't believe her eyes._

_Now instead of just the five words from before, there was more written on the card._

_"Is this for real?" Freddie asked. "This isn't just a big joke, is it?"_

_"Sorry, lad." Kieran apologised. "It's how it works."_

_"Well, fuck me running!" Cook exclaimed._

_Naomi was speechless. It was hard for her to grasp the concept of what had just happened._

_"Well, lass? What do you have to say?" Kieran fixed her with a look she couldn't quite identify._

_She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. Naomi tried again, but still no words._

_Kieran chuckled and nodded his head. "I know, it's a lot to take in...why don't we get in the sleigh, and I'll explain everything, yeah?"_

_He bundled the three of them up and loaded them into the carriage. With another smirk, he took off and into the night they flew._

_Naomi spent most of the night believing she was still drunk, had fallen and hit her head or taken some really great drug. She couldn't come to terms with the fact that she had just become the one "mythical" person she hated with the intensity of a thousand suns._

_She wasted that first year trying her best to rebel against her fate. While Freddie and Cook fell into their roles with ease, she was having trouble. She missed them and she missed her mum, of all people. After spending years trying break away from Gina Campbell, it would physically hurt to know she couldn't just pop round for a cuppa whenever she wanted._

_Kieran and the other Legendary Figures took pity on her, if only for the sake of saving the next Christmas, and brought Gina to the North Pole, where they explained why after almost a year, her daughter had been missing._

_And then there were the elves. Naomi treated them like kids for the first couple of months, which got old real fast. All it took was a well done riot, headed by one of the oldest elves of the group. Kieran had to take her aside and explain that she needed to pull her head out of her arse and treat the little guys with the respect they deserved. She soon started to see them for the people they were._

_Freddie and Cook started spending way more time with her as well, until they just decided to stay. As long as they performed their duties, it really didn't matter where they were located._

_Kieran turned out to be a huge help, slowly becoming a father figure to Naomi, something she had never really had. And she found it rather hilarious that her mum and Kieran would flirt with each other._

_When it came time for the following Christmas, Naomi reluctantly embraced her role in this new life._

_That was thirty years ago._

* * *

><p>A knock on the door brought the three of them out of the past.<p>

"Enter!"

The door opened to reveal Effy Stonem or as the world knew her, Mother Nature. Naomi watched as Freddie tensed up and suddenly felt angry.

"I heard there was a bit of a scuffle on the floor earlier." She said with a smirk.

"Oh, I bet you did. What do you want, Effy?"

"Just checking to make sure you're coming to dinner tonight. And the boys as well. It's a Legendary thing, ya know."

Naomi narrowed her eyes at the waifish woman in front of her. Remembering when the girl started after her mum, Anthea passed away. She had caused trouble for the boys from the moment she arrived, and it chapped Naomi's arse!

"Yes, Eff, we know. We'll be there. Was there anything else?" Naomi asked with a touch of frost to her voice.

Effy sauntered over to the chair next to Freddie and sat down. "No...not really."

"Then you're done here." Naomi's anger increased at the nerve of the girl. Who the hell did she think she was?

As soon as Naomi asked herself that question, Effy's eyes snapped to hers, showing the blonde that Effy heard her. One delicately thin eyebrow raised in answer, as Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'm going." Effy stood and glared at Naomi. "I'll see you all soon enough anyway."

Freddie had been holding his breath the whole time Effy had been in the room and finally let it out after she left. "Fuck!" He whispered, more to himself, but Cook and Naomi heard it.

"You seriously need to let that go, Freds." Naomi said quietly, hoping that her friend would listen to her this time.

They spent another hour talking about daily day to day business, before they realised it was time for dinner.

They arrived at JJ and Lara's place and were greeted by Lara herself. "Hey you, glad to see you made this one." The perky blonde said with a smile, knowing how hard it was to pin her down this time of year.

"Yeah, well...you know how it goes, so much to do, so little time." Naomi smiled back at her as Freddie and Cook walk on through, leaving the two girls at the door. "Is JJ here?"

"Yeah, he just got home. He told me about what happened earlier." She whispered, and then frowned. "I just wished she would stop...,"

"Yeah, I know." Naomi placed a hand on her arm. "I wish Freddie would...,"

"I know." Lara returned with a smile. "Listen, your mum and Kieran are here already, along with Thomas and Panda's on her way."

"So it's the whole assembly then, yeah?" Lara nodded, "We've got important business to discuss, Nai. It'll affect us all here at the Pole."

Lara led her into the dining room, and she was greeted by everyone else. Panda arrived a few minutes later and they all enjoyed a nice dinner. Once they were done, everyone adjourned in the lounge.

"Alright, listen up!" Kieran called out, getting everyone's attention. "We've called everyone here tonight to discuss a very important matter. Two matters, to be exact."

"Well, let's get on with it, I've got a mission to complete, yeah?" Cook said, impatiently. He took his duties very seriously, believe it or not, something that used to make Naomi laugh at first.

"Yeah yeah, yeah...keep your knickers on, boyo! First, you and Freddie need to stop going at each other!" Kieran admonished sternly. "We can't have Legendary Figures killing each other...there's no replacements that way." He eyed Freddie getting a harsh look in return.

"Fine!" Freddie said with a pout. "Is that it?"

"Nope, fraid not." Kieran swung his gaze to Naomi. "You!"

"What? I haven't done anything." She said with her hands up.

"We know that, it's just that we have a small problem." Kieran said, almost sheepishly.

"What problem?" She asked suspiciously, knowing she's been good for the last twenty-nine years.

"It's called the _Mrs Clause_."

"The what?" She asked in confusion as Effy, Panda and Thomas snickered.

Lara shot them a look and they immediately stopped. "What that means, Naomi is...well, we've never had a female Santa before, and JJ didn't think anything about that clause when you took over the job, so...,"

"So...what does that mean?" Naomi was pretty sure wasn't liking where this was heading. "No bullshit, just the straight up truth."

JJ finally stepped forward, embarrassed at the mess that could be caused because of his oversight. He and Lara had been the overseers of the North Pole for three centuries, and he had never screwed up this badly before.

"The position of Santa Claus is one of family and caring an-," JJ started but was cut off quickly.

"I'm caring! And look around!" Naomi gestured to everyone in the room. "Family!" She started freaking out.

"Marriage, Naomi. The clause is talking about marriage." Kieran looked at her kindly, knowing how she was going to react.

Naomi surged up from her seat, the room starting to close in on her. 'No, no, no, no! This can not be happening!' She thought to herself, forgetting that everyone except her mum could hear her.

"But it is happening, Nai." Cook jumped up, rushing over to comfort her. "It can't be changed, Blondie."

"This isn't good, Cook. You know what it's like for me." She pleaded with him, imploring him to remember when they were in Uni. "I had barely realised my sexuality when this happened." She gestured around again, feeling a panic start to set in.

Freddie jumped up then too, wanting to make sure she was alright. He had seen that look too many times before to not recognise it. "Shh, it'll be fine, Nai...we'll get Cookie to shoot an arrow and-,"

"Nope! No arrows." Kieran piped up. "She's gotta do it on her own, we can't use our powers to help."

Naomi's eyes widened at the thought of having to meet someone. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard, right? I'll just find a girl...maybe...dating can be pretty harmless, right? That should take about a year or so and th-,"

"You have a month." JJ stated. "You have until Christmas Eve, or else Christmas as we know it will be gone.

"What?" Cook and Freddie shouted at the same time.

"She'll never be able to do that?" Freddie replied in a matter of fact manner.

"Yeah, she gets all...nervous and shit! It ain't pretty, to be honest."

Gina, who had been rather quiet throughout the whole discussion, spoke up. "I think we need to give Naomi some time to get used to this. Love?"

Everyone looked around, searching for the legendary figure.

"I knew this was gonna happen." Gina stated calmly.

Naomi Campbell, aka Santa Claus, had disappeared.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? What do ya think? A little Naomily? A little Santa Clause? Cookie as Cupid and Freddie as the Sandman? Come on guys, I seriously need your feedback on this one...<strong>


	2. The Dating Pool and Jumping In

**A/N: Have I told you all lately that I love you? No? Really? Hmmm...I thought I had...well, I do! I love you all! The response was more than I expected, and that makes me happy... And a happy Marsupial means faster chapters for my other stories...just sayin' ;)**

**Oh, and for those of you that found it funny that Effy was Mother Nature, well, she reminds me of my Michigan weather...mysterious, fickle and likes to mess with people! **

**Any and all typos/grammatical errors are mine**

**Disclaimer: I'm done making Christmas presents, so I'll be resuming work on TRTW and TBWITB... And I don't own Skins, but if it dropped down the chimney and slipped under the tree, I wouldn't mind;)**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 2: The Dating Pool and Jumping In<span>**

It took about three hours to find Naomi after she had run away in panic. Freddie and Cook tried talking to her, but it was her mum, who finally brought her around and explained things to her.

So here she was, back home in good old Bristol, along with the almost the whole gang of Legendary Figures. Everyone decided that she needed assistance, which she couldn't deny, to be honest. So with Kieran and Gina running the Pole, Naomi headed back to the world.

She had only found out she liked girls in her second year of Uni, when an American by the name of Anna, joined her politics class. Naomi had the biggest crush on her, but was so awkward and klutzy every time she happened to be around the girl, that she just stopped trying. It wasn't long after that when the whole Santa Claus thing happened.

"Who's house is this?" Naomi asked as she wandered the halls one day. They were staying in a turn of the century maisonette with a large garden out back.

Effy appeared beside her along with Panda. "It's been in my fathers' family for years. My brother was the last one to live here before he passed away." She explained, a touch of longing in her voice. "I would stay with him when I wasn't with mum, and when he died, he passed it on to me."

Naomi listened to the underlying sadness in her voice. "Oh. It must be nice to get away from your realm from time to time."

Effy smirked, "It really is. This is were I come when I wanna play with the mortals." She told the blonde, giving her a wink before setting off towards one of the rooms.

Naomi shook here head, as she settled into the room that Effy pointed out to her earlier. '_God, I really hope this doesn't take too long!_' She thought to herself, as she opened her rucksack. She had to laugh at herself a little as she looked at the used bag she'd had since college and the clothes inside it. '_I'm still a fucking kid!'_

Being barely twenty when she took the job of Santa and playing with toys all day long for the last thirty years, has seemed to have kept her perpetually young.

She was chuckling to herself when Cook and Freddie came barreling into the room.

"What the fuck!"

"It's time to go, Naomikins!" Cook grinned at her, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. "Time to get your lezzy charms working!"

Freddie smiled at his friends. "Stop being a knob, Cook! What he's trying to say, Nai, is Panda and Thomas have a place to hit up...should be right up your alley."

"But...but...I'm not ready! Wait, I'm not even dressed properly!" She cried out, panicking again, trying desperately to tamp that down.

"Naomi, at the rate you're going, you're never gonna be ready and Christmas will be gone! For good!" Cook knew what he was about to say was for her own good. "If that happens, then we disappear too!"

"Whatdya mean?"

Cook looked serious. "I was talking with JJ before we came, and he says that once people stop believing in Santa, they'll stop believing in the rest of us." He explained, as they entered the lounge, where everyone else was waiting for them.

Naomi quickly looked for JJ, catching him with a glare. "Is that true?"

He nodded. "Yes. But I wasn't going to tell you that, because well, you seemed to have enough to worry about already." He told her while he levelled a pointed look at Cook.

"What? She has a right to know."

Naomi felt as if everyone around her knew more than she did and she hated that feeling.

"Alright, everyone had better stop _pussyfooting_ around me right now!" She snarled at the group before her. "In case anyone here's forgotten, I'm technically almost fifty years old! I'm not a damn child!"

Everyone had the decency to look ashamed, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.

"I need a fucking drink that doesn't have cocoa in it." She muttered, and walked out the door, leaving everyone to follow her.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing just inside the door of the club that Pandora said was the hottest spot in town. Naomi looked around at all the young kids, drinking and dancing, and felt suddenly old.

"Fuck me!" She whispered.

"Don't worry, Nai. We're here to help ya, yeah? You've got nothing to worry about." Cook said before heading to the bar to get in a round of shots.

Freddie led them all to a table in the corner where they could watch what was going on around them. Once Cook arrived with the alcohol, things started getting a bit...sloppy. Naomi started pointing out individuals and telling the group how that one was on the naughty list three years in a row or how she was shocked to see a certain girl doing that, because she had never once left the nice list, and on it went for most of the night.

At one point Panda leaned over to Thomas and whispered, "I'm so fucking glad I'm The Easter Bunny! I'd hate to have to keep track of that bloody list."

Thomas laughed, giving her a kiss before responding, "I know, right? Once they lose those baby teeth, I don't ever have to worry about them again."

They both went back to listening to Naomi/Santa, as she talked about almost every one in the club.

Effy knew they were going to get nowhere with Naomi like this, and so she left the table to hit the dance floor, all the while keeping Naomi's voice in the back of her mind, listening. After a while, Effy couldn't hear Naomi at all, and oddly enough, she got worried. But after reaching their table she knew why.

Naomi was still there, still awake and staring at something...nope, make that someone. Effy followed the blondes line of sight, finding a very beautiful girl on the other end.

The girl stood alone at the end of the bar, cradling a glass in her hand, as she leaned back against a stool, watching something out on the dance floor. Effy took it upon herself to find out about the stranger, so she got up and walked to the bar, getting as close to the girl as possible.

"Great music, yeah?" Effy shouted to be heard, watching the girl nod in affirmation. "My name's Effy...that's my friend Naomi over there."

"So?"

"Well, she wanted to come over and say hi, but she's a bit shy. I told her I would come over and invite you to our table." Effy lied, but she knew Naomi would never come over herself.

"Right. And I'm supposed to fall for that?" Effy was about to respond to the stranger, when she held up her hand to stop her. "Look, I'm sure your mate knows how to have a good time, and she might even be fun to be around, but you're totally barking up the wrong tree and I'm kinda in the middle of something." The girl stated, in a matter of fact manner, as something caught her eye. "Fuck! I've gotta go."

With that, the girl stormed off toward the dance floor, leaving Effy standing there shocked at being rejected.

"Who was that?" Cook asked as he appeared behind her, clearly impressed with the attitude that was on display.

Effy looked back at Cook, still dazed by what had just happened. "I have absolutely no idea."

"You didn't get her name?" Cook laughed. "You must be losing yer touch, Princess!" He bounced away like Tigger, hopped up on speed.

Effy walked back to the table, sliding onto her stool, still in shock.

"What were you doing with her?" Naomi slurred, squinting out of one eye, trying to focus on the brunette.

Effy didn't answer right away. She was keeping an eye on the smaller girl as she wove in and out, between the bodies on the dance floor.

"Effs! _Effy_!" Naomi got her attention. "What is wrong with you?"

Effy looked around and saw the her and Naomi were the only ones at the table, so she leaned in closer to the blonde. "I saw you looking at her and thought I'd invite her over to the table."

"Why would you do that?"

Effy smirked at the blonde. "Because you were staring at her like she was the last cookie on the plate at the end of your deliveries!"

"Hey! Delivering that shit is hard work, I'll have you fucking know!" Naomi shot back indignantly. "Besides, it's totally rude if you don't take at least a bite."

"Yeah, yeah...whatever. Anyway, I invited her over for a drink and she said no."

"She said no?" Naomi looked surprised at that. Effy never got rejected, like, at all!

"Yeah...I'm surprised too."

"Well, for your information, I wasn't eyeing her up. She looked familiar and I was trying to remember where I'd seen her before."

"Right. You've remembered everyone else in this club, even going so far as to tell us what they got for Christmas when they where five, but you don't remember her?" Effy was shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm not buying that."

"Think what you want. I'm going for another drink." Naomi stood up on shaky legs, trying to remember the last she'd been this drunk. _'Oh, that's right! It was the night I became Santa Claus!_' She thought to herself.

Before she could reach the bar though, the girl from earlier came storming out of the crowd of people that was standing on the edge of the dance floor, and Naomi was hit again with a sense of familiarity that she couldn't quite place. It took Naomi a few minutes to realise that she was dragging someone behind her, rather forcefully.

"For fucks sake, Emsy! Why do you do this every fucking year?" The girl shouted to be heard.

The stranger stopped just a couple feet from Naomi, and she had to do a double take. "Am I really _that_ drunk?" She asked out loud as she stared at the double vision in front of her. Identical girls! Naomi blinked rapidly, but no...still there.

She must have spoken loud enough, because the second girl looked right her, her eyes wide. Naomi looked her up and down, taking in every feature she could, from her cute button nose, her chocolate brown eyes to her dark cherry red hair. Both girls were shorter than she was, and they looked positively pocket size. Hell, there were a few elves at the pole taller than these two!

But the one fact that ran through Naomi's brain was the fact that the red head was the most beautiful woman Naomi had ever seen. Naomi was lost in her own mind and didn't realise the sneer that the one had on her face.

"_You_! How fucking _dare_ you show up after all this time?" She spat out and started to swing for Naomi.

"Emily, stop! Alright? Just...stop!"

Emily dropped her arms and stared at her twin. "That's _her_, Katie! Right there!" Emily's hands came up to gesture toward Naomi and the blonde flinched out of instinct.

"Emsy, please? Please don't start. Let's just go home and you can sleep this off." Katie pleaded with her, as she glanced over at Naomi. "I'm sorry, she gets a bit maudlin around this time of year."

Emily started to cry at that moment, causing Naomi to panic. Her mind was working overtime to figure out who these two were as she watched Katie wrap her arms around her sister.

"Is she going to be alright?" Naomi asked in concern.

Katie sent her a smile. "She'll be fine, once Christmas is over, yeah? Then she goes back to being our sweet Emily again. She thinks you're someone else, so it's nothing personal."

"Do you need help getting her home?"

Katie shook her head. "No, we'll be okay, we're getting a taxi, so...," she paused as she really looked at Naomi, "hey, wasn't that your friend earlier? Who tried to pick me up?"

Naomi blushed. "Yeah, she does that from time to time. Sorry about that."

Katie laughed. "Well, in the future, she might wanna think about who she's trying to chat up, yeah? If this had been a normal night, I would've decked her."

Katie had started walking again, pulling a crying Emily along with her. Naomi didn't realise she was walking with them.

"Actually, I think you're my new hero. I've never known anyone to reject Miss High and Mighty. The look on her face was priceless!" Naomi laughed as she remembered the confused look on Effy's face. "She's not bad really, she's just a little too sure of herself."

"She's down right cocky, is what she is. She should put a lid on that!" Katie scoffed and again, Naomi laughed.

"See? I told you it was her!" Emily said at the sound of laughter, slurring her words.

"No, Emsy, it's not her." Katie reiterated, cupping Emily's cheeks in her hands so that she could look in her eyes. "See?"

Naomi watched as the completely munted Emily looked at her through drunken eyes and she felt her breath hitch when she suddenly realised why she thought she recognised the twins.

"Okay? Do you believe me now?" Katie asked, getting a small nod from Emily. "Good. Well, thank you for the offer...," she turned back to Naomi, trying to remember if she got her name.

"Naomi. Naomi Campbell." She introduced herself and stood embarrassed as Katie laughed at her name. '_Fucking models!_' She thought to herself. _'It was my name first, for fucks sake!_' Arms crossed, she waited patiently for the brunette to finish.

"Oh my god, you were _serious_?" Katie cried out as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why would your parents be so cruel?"

Naomi shrugged a shoulder at the question. "Because my mum's a freak sometimes. Anyway, I should let you go and go find my friends."

"_Naomikins_?" She heard about behind her.

"Are your friends kinda crazy looking?" Katie asked looking around Naomi's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's probably them." Naomi sighed, as she too looked behind her. The whole gang was watching her and Katie, and Cook was giving her the goofiest grin along with two thumbs up. Naomi sighed again, and hung her head in embarrassment. "Twats!"

"Well, thanks again." Katie pulled her sister toward the door again, leaving Naomi standing there.

* * *

><p>Later that night, as Naomi laid in bed, she couldn't sleep. The whole exchange with the twins had shaken her up, because somewhere in the time she had been talking with Katie, it hit her why they seemed so familiar.<p>

Or Emily at least.

It was about ten years ago, she had received a letter from one Emily Fitch. Oddly enough, at fifteen, she still had a lingering belief in Santa Claus, and Naomi had been moved by her letter.

It explained how she had realised that she liked girls, or rather, liked a girl. Actually, if Naomi remembered it correctly, young Emily had been in love. But sadly, the girl that she loved didn't love her back, and little Emily's heart had been broken.

Naomi remembered crying as Emily's letter asked for Santa to make the girl love her. It was the one time Naomi wished she could have granted that request, but knowing that she couldn't, she had a special present made for the young girl.

Come Christmas Eve, she made her way into the Fitch house, dropping off the presents that little Jamie Fitch had asked for, a present for Katie and finally, the present for Emily. Naomi didn't leave right away, taking the time to enjoy the milk and cookies that Jamie had left for her.

Naomi was finishing up the last bite, when a noise made her jump. As she turned around, she saw a beautiful young teenager.

_"Who are you?" The voice was husky, full of sleep, catching Naomi off guard for a moment._

_But she stood up tall, making sure she brushed the crumbs from her coat. "I'm Santa Claus."_

_"Bullshit! Santa's an old, fat man. You're definitely not any of those!" _

_Naomi was stunned because no one was supposed to see the real her. If anyone looked at her, they were suppose to only see the embodiment of Christmas, the jolly man, with a bowl full of jelly, rosy cheeks and white hair and beard. _

_"What do I look like?" Naomi asked her, curious._

_"Well, first of all you're a woman." Naomi's eyes widened, as Emily cocked her head, really looking at her. "And I doubt Santa is a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, so who are you?" _

_Naomi decided to be truthful, because she was sure there was a reason that this girl, this child, could see her true form. "I am actually Santa, you're just not suppose to see anything but the jolly old fat man."_

_Emily measured Naomi's words, choosing to believe her for now. "Why?"_

_"I'm not sure, really. It's just how it's always been."_

_Emily decided to get to the heart of the matter. "So if you're Santa Claus, did you get my letter?" She questioned seriously._

_Naomi looked away for a few seconds, before looking back at the girl sheepishly. "I did."_

_"And?" _

_Naomi moved closer to the girl, knowing that she had to step lightly, try and be as delicate as possible. "You don't know how much I wanted to make it happen, but...it's not up to me." _

_She saw a pained look on Emily's face. "But it's what I wanted. I love her." The young girl pleaded with her. _

_"I know you did...I know you do...and I tried, I really did, but the powers that be have other plans for her." Naomi explained as best as she could, as the girl let her tears fall. _

_"You know what? Fuck the powers that be and fuck you too!" Emily said forcefully, and Naomi was about to say something when a noise came from upstairs._

_"Emsy! Mum and dad are gonna kill you for being out of be-," Katie stopped talking as she came downstairs and saw Naomi standing there with her sister. "Who the fuck are you? Did you break into our house?" She asked, stepping in front of Emily. _

_"No Katie, this woman is "_Santa Claus_"!" Emily sneered at the blonde, using air quotes. _

_"Alright Emily, if you've been sneaking into dads liquor cabinet again, he'll be mad." Katie hissed at her. "Seriously though, are you some freaky old man trying to kidnap my sister?" _

_"You see me?" Naomi asked Katie. "You see my beard? And I'm an old man?" _

_"Has everyone been drinking here but me?" Katie threw her hands up in the air. "Yes, I see a creepy fat man, dressed as Santa!" _

_Emily looked back and forth between them, and was about to tell Katie that she was crazy when a clatter came from the roof. _

_"What was that?" Katie asked suddenly afraid and Naomi knew she had to do something._

_"Look, everything's going to be alright, okay. Just stay calm." She stepped closer to the two girls, digging into a pouch inside her coat. Just As Katie was about to scream, Naomi pulled out a handful of memory dust and gently blew it at them._

_Katie was the first one to go down, and Naomi caught her, gently laying her on the floor, while Emily fought the effect of Kieran's dust. _

_"What was that?" Emily asked sounding high, as she tried to keep her eyes open. _

_"It won't hurt you, please trust me." Now Naomi was pleading with the girl, suddenly feeling very out of control of the situation, as if she'd ever been in control on the first place. "It'll help you forget tonight happened, that's all." _

_"Will help me forget you?" _

_Naomi blinked at the question. "No, I don't think so." _

_"That's a shame, because I want to." Emily said as she slipped into sleep, leaving Naomi standing there, hurting from Emily's words._

And Emily did forget, never asking her for anything after that night, erasing Santa from her mind and heart all together.

Naomi tossed and turned that night, not able to sleep properly thinking about Emily. She didn't realise, until she remembered everything, how much Emily's words still hurt.

* * *

><p>Naomi and the gang went out every night after that, trying their best to sort Naomi out, but it was no use. She just couldn't seemed to connect with anyone that she met. If it wasn't so important, Naomi would just say fuck it and go home, but it wasn't just about her and she knew it.<p>

She had walked to the café down the street from their house, one early morning to pick up coffee for everyone, muttering to herself and looking very disgruntled. As she walked back, she rounded the last corner and ran into someone.

Coffee went everywhere and the air turned blue.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" Naomi said as she took the napkins in her hand and started wiping the coffee off the woman, as it dripped from her coat which was open, so her shirt was drenched as well along with her pants.

"Excuse me! I can do that myself!" The indignant voice was husky and it made Naomi stand up straight to look at who she ran in to.

"Emily?"

"Um, do I know you?"

"I met you and your sister, Katie, at the club the other night." Naomi told her .

Emily groaned and her face flushed. "Really? I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?"

Naomi smiled as she remembered Emily trying to hit her. "No, nothing too mortifying. You were pretty sad most of the time."

"Fuck!" The red head muttered. "I bet I made a wonderful first impression!"

"It was okay, really." Naomi said looking down at the coffee stains on her shirt. "Look, why don't you come with me, you can get cleaned up? It's not far, just right over there."

Emily followed Naomi's hand as the blonde pointed out the house. "Yeah sure, why not?"

Naomi led her to where she and the rest of the group had been calling home for the last week. She got to the door and hesitated.

"I'm going to apologise, right off the bat, for anything anyone inside this house might say to you." Naomi stated sheepishly, not able to look into Emily's eyes.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, yeah?" Naomi looked up then and caught a twinkle of amusement, as Emily smiled. "Anyway, I need to get out of this shirt or else I'll freeze."

"Oh...right! C'mon in." Naomi opened the door and ushered the girl in.

Emily took a moment to look around the house. She always passed by it on her way to work and was curious about its owners. The first thing she saw was the Christmas lights, hung up throughout the hall and the rooms, and she bristled at the sight of the Christmas tree in the lounge.

"Is there something wrong?" Naomi asked, concerned.

"No...nothing's wrong." The red head answered. "Um...where can I dry off?" She asked a bit stiffly.

"Right this way." Naomi took her upstairs to her room, feeling her stomach flutter at the thought of _having_ Emily in her room. "I'll get you a pair of sweats and a shirt, the en-suite is through there," Naomi pointed, "towels are in the cupboard."

"Thanks." Emily said with a shy smile.

Naomi shrugged. "It's the least I could do, right? I mean, I did douse you with coffee and a lot of it to boot."

"That was a lot of coffee...," Emily laughed as she headed into the en-suite. "I'll be right out."

Naomi smiled at her, listening to the sound of the voice she remembered. "Take your time, I'm going to be downstairs making coffee for everyone," her smile grew bigger, "so come find me when you're done."

* * *

><p>"So, what's she like?" Freddie asked Naomi as soon as she reached the kitchen. He had seen her lead the girl in the house and heard most of their conversation.<p>

"She's nice." Naomi pulled out the can of coffee and went to work making a pot. She also put on the kettle, in case Emily wanted a cup.

"That's it? She's...nice?" Freddie asked incredulously. "C'mon, Nai! You can do better than that."

Naomi sighed, she knew Freddie wouldn't let this go. But at least it wasn't Cook sitting there. "Alright, she's fucking beautiful, yeah? But...,"

"But what?"

"She hates Christmas." Effy stated casually, as she breezed into the kitchen, sitting next to Freddie.

"Bullshit! No one hates Christmas." Freddie scoffed.

"I'm afraid she right, Freds. I remembered her and her sister that night after the club." Naomi said sadly. "I'm the reason she hates Christmas."

Freddie and Effy stared wide eyed at her, so she quickly told them the story. When she was done, Effy looked confused.

"There was a reason she saw you, Nai."

"Yeah? And what would that reason be?" Naomi was frustrated at everything in general and having Effy spouting her cryptic words didn't help.

"I don't know, but I'll find out." Effy said as she stood from the table. "Do us all a favour, yeah?"

"What would that be?"

"Ask her out." Effy smirked and winked at the blonde while Freddie laughed as Naomi flipped her off.

By the time Emily came downstairs, everyone else was up and making breakfast, so she accepted Cooks offer to stay.

To say Emily got along with everyone was an understatement. Oddly enough, she had the same raunchy sense of humour that Cook had, while being rational and calm like Freddie. Naomi honestly thought she was perfect, except for that one little tiny fact that Emily hated Christmas.

The red head would change the subject when any of them brought it up. Freddie watched her carefully and agreed with Naomi and wondered what they could do to make it better.

As the morning turned into afternoon, Emily realised that she had to leave to meet with her family, so Naomi walked her to the door and sheepishly did as Effy requested and asked her out.

Naomi spent the rest of the day smiling, because Emily said yes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: okay, so I'm gonna leave them there for now...no fear, folks...I've already started chapter 3, so hopefully in the next day or so it will be posted...**

**As always, let me know what you think...liked it? loved it? Hated t****he shit out of it?**

**Remember folks, this is a sprint to marriage, so it might seem fast, but Naomi's running out of time! ;)**

**love ya's**

**Marci**


	3. Telling the Truth

**A/N:**** And moving right along:) I love you all! Call this a belated Christmas gift if you will:)**

**Disclaimer: Any and all typos are mine and I don't own Skins or The Santa Claus 2**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 3: Telling the Truth <strong>

Emily and Katie had joined the group on their nights out. It turned out that Katie was a blast to be around. Emily...not so much. The closer it got to Christmas Day, the worse she got. But as long as she wasn't drinking, she was fine.

Her and Naomi would spend the days together, talking about their families, their jobs, Naomi only told Emily she worked in manufacturing, but they would talk about anything, really. It turns out that Emily's dad, Rob had gone to the same Uni that her, Fred's and Cook went to. Cook had even shared a class with the man. Emily's family own a gym outside of London, and her mum and dad ran it, while she, Katie and their brother James had all worked there at some point in time, but Emily was now a school teacher, shaping young minds and moulding the future.

Naomi knew she was going to have to eventually bring up the subject of Christmas, but she was dreading it.

The blonde had been round to their flat on a couple of occasions, which happened to coincidentally be a couple blocks away from her house, to spend time with the younger twin, learning what made her happy, what made her tick.

She had used up a bit of her Christmas magic making sure Emily didn't get too sad when they all went clubbing, which JJ had words with her about.

_"Naomi! You need to reserve your magic to be able to get you back to the Pole!" JJ had admonished her one night as they stepped into the club with an already drunk Emily._

_"C'mon, Jay, I've only only used a bit of it. Hardly a blip, really." Naomi pouted. "And let's face it, she really deserves a special time, doesn't she?"_

_"That may be, but you need to cool it down." JJ said as he dug in his pocket for something. "It's a good thing this arrived today!" He exclaimed as he pulled out an ordinary looking watch. "Here, put this on." He thrust the watch at her._

_"Why are you giving me this? What is it?"_

_"It'll measure how much magic you have left. You drain your magic every time you perform a miracle."_

_Naomi smiled at him as she fastened the watch around her wrist. "Smart thinking, Jay."_

She was glancing at the watch as she was about to leave her place to head round Emily's, when her mobile went off. She smiled when she saw Emily's name on the screen. "Hello, Ems."

"Hey you." Naomi could hear the smile in the red head's voice. "Listen, I know we were suppose to meet up, but I've been roped into supervising Saturday detention."

"Um, Ems...you teach seven year olds, what kind of hijinks could seven year olds pull off to earn detention?" Naomi asked dryly, causing the red head to giggle.

"Well, it's actually high school students. One of the teachers called in sick, so my friend, who happens to be the headmistress, called me because I'm a qualified high school teacher as well. Same district, basically same school and all that." Emily explained. "I'm really sorry, but can I take a raincheck."

Naomi thought about it for a few moments. "How 'bout I join you?"

"What? You wanna spend the morning watching kids scrap graffiti off of public buildings?" Emily was surprised by the offer.

"No, not really, but I do wanna spend the morning with you, so...," Naomi felt like a cheesy git. She actually felt herself blush and was thankful that Emily couldn't see her right now. "If you don't want me to g-,"

"No! I'd love the stimulating company, so I'll pick you up in about five minutes."

"Okay, I'll be ready." Naomi said, ending the call with a smile.

* * *

><p>"So this is what detention looks like?" Naomi stood next to Emily, watching as a group of fifteen year olds scrapped paint off a community centre wall.<p>

"Are you trying to tell me you never served detention? Were you a goody two shoes?" Emily laughed, as she watched the blonde blush.

"No, I was not a goody two shoes...," Naomi looked and caught the grin on her face. "I just felt that studying was a better use of my time, that's all." She pouted. Actually she had served detention once, but in her day, that consisted of being cooped up with other trouble makers on a Saturday morning doing schoolwork. But she couldn't very well tell that to Emily, because schools stopped doing that in in the late 80's.

"A studious child, oh how I wish all students were like that." Emily replied, wistfully.

"Yeah, I was a teachers dream." Naomi said as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously though, I had big plans of getting out of here, going abroad, travelling. I was gonna be a big shot lawyer or a political journalist, or...something. A good education factored into those plans, ya know?"

Emily was suddenly curious, because while they had spent an immense amount of time together over the last few days, the blonde never really went into detail about her job.

"So I know you've told me you're in manufacturing, but what does that actually mean? What exactly do you make?"

Naomi knew the question was coming, she had been so vague when she was telling Emily what she did and it was only matter of time before the red head would want details.

As it was so long ago with fifteen year old Emily, Naomi opted to be delicate, but truthful. "I head the largest facility that manufactures Christmas toys." She explained, and waited for the fallout, which Naomi didn't have to wait long for.

"Are you fucking for real?" Emily asked her, anger lacing her voice, as her chocolate eyes narrowed at her. "Millions of jobs out there, and that's what you've chosen to do? Christmas is the worst holiday in the world and you help feed the mass delusion...you help lie to children!"

Naomi stood there and watched Emily walk away from her before her legs moved on their own.

"Emily!" The red head kept walking. "Emily, wait!" Naomi called out, feeling relief when the she stopped. Naomi came up behind the smaller girl, placing her hands on Emily's shoulders and turned her around.

"Why?" Emily asked in a small voice.

"Because I enjoy it. Trust me, it's not how I saw my life playing out, that's for sure, but when I see the smiles of children, opening up the gifts I gave to them, it's...' Naomi paused, trying to think of the right words, "it's almost magical."

Emily shrugged off the hands holding her and walked a few steps away. "I don't find anything magical about a holiday that perpetuates materialistic greed."

"Why do you hate it so much?" Naomi asked quietly.

"I just told you."

Naomi shook her head. "No, that's not a real reason and you know it."

"I just do." Emily scoffed, feeling uncomfortable suddenly.

"But why? There has to be a reason, Emily. No one just hates Christmas." Naomi pointed out.

Emily didn't like feeling pushed and she was about to have a go at the blonde, when a little girl about five, ran up to Naomi.

Naomi didn't notice her at first, but then she felt a tugging at her coat. When she looked down, she saw bright blue eyes staring into hers, and she couldn't help but smile. "Hello sweetheart, what can I do for you?" Naomi asked as she knelt down, knowing that children and anyone who believed in Santa would only see her as jolly old Kris Kringle.

The little girl looked back at her shyly. "I've been a very good girl this year."

Naomi nodded, still smiling. "You've been a very good girl indeed, Stephanie. So I think it's safe to say that that Princess Anna doll you've asked for will be under the tree come Christmas morning." The look of pure joy on Stephanie's face was something that Naomi would never get tired of seeing.

"Stephanie! There you are, oh my god, I turned around for a second and you were gone." A frantic looking woman rushed over. "I'm so sorry about her."

"It's no problem at all." Naomi told the worried mother, as she grasped Stephanie's hand and pulled her away.

"Thank you." Stephanie called out, before disappearing.

Naomi smiled at the girl, then looked down at the watch on her hand, grimaced as another two units of magic slipped away from her dwindling supply. "You really cost me, Stephanie." Naomi whispered to herself.

As the blonde stood up and turned around, she saw Emily regarding her with curiosity. Naomi wanted to continue their conversation, but every time she would try, Emily would switch the subject so Naomi had no choice but to let it go for now.

They spent the rest of the day together, keeping it simple and uncomplicated. The more time Naomi spent with the tiny red head, the more she felt for her. It was strange and confusing and if there wasn't so much riding on her, Naomi would've run away screaming, because she didn't really know how to deal with what she was feeling.

At the end of the day, Naomi had went to Emily's place, where they continued spending time together. Naomi noticed it was nearing one in the morning, when Emily couldn't quite cover a yawn, so she decided to go.

"I had a really great time today." Naomi told her shyly as Emily walked her to the door.

"I did too, which is surprising, because detention is never fun." Emily replied with a smirk. "Do you think...," Emily blushed as she became embarrassed, " by what she was about to ask.

"Do I think what?" Naomi pushed.

"I want to kiss you," Emily's face turned even redder, as she ducked her head, "would that be...okay?"

"Guess what?" Naomi asked, causing Emily's eyes to find hers. "I'd like to kiss you too."

They smiled at each other, as Naomi bent down and placed her lips against Emily's. It was gentle and sweet, an exploration of lips, until Naomi ran her tongue over Emily's bottom lip, asking for entrance which Emily granted immediately.

What started out as a chaste goodnight kiss, turned into a heated make out session at Emily's front door, as hands started grabbing and feeling other body parts, so she tried to drag Naomi back into the lounge so they could continue, but the blonde was adamant about leaving it for the night.

"Next time we can make out on the couch like teenagers." Naomi said with a wink, giving her one more quick kiss. "Goodnight, Ems."

Emily sighed. She knew Naomi was right, but she couldn't help it if it felt so good to kiss and hold the blonde. "Goodnight, Naoms." And she watched as Naomi walked down the path and headed home.

Emily herself was confused as well. She realised she could easily spend a huge amount of time with Naomi, and it didn't matter that she had only known the blonde for almost a week, Emily felt at peace with her.

She also had a sense of familiarity that she couldn't shake. She had asked Katie about it, but her advice had been to not question it and shag the life out of the blonde.

Good advice normally, but Emily felt like this was more than just a chance to get a leg up, it felt more like the beginning of something special.

* * *

><p>Emily hadn't seen Naomi in a couple of days, because her mum requested family time, which usually turned into her mum insisting that Emily wasn't gay and she should find a good man to settle down with.<p>

She had managed to escape, but the damage was done, as her anger toward her mum, the holiday season and the fact that she had a faculty Christmas party to go to, all compounded into a very cranky Emily.

She was looking for her coat and gloves when she heard a knock on the door.

"I swear to god, if it's carolers, I will go insane!" She stated as she walked down the hall to open the door.

"Hello, Emily." Naomi stood on the other side of the door, smiling at her.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked, surprised. "How did you even know I'd be home?"

"I felt like seeing you, so I took a chance." Naomi stated casually, as she stepped through the door. The truth was, she had felt that Emily was upset and had used a bit of her magic to find out where she was. "Fancy going out to dinner?"

Emily could slowly feel the anger seeping out of her just by standing next to the blonde.

"I'd really love to, Naoms, but I can't." Emily told her.

Naomi cast her eyes down, feeling a bit silly for showing up. "You've got another date?"

"What?" Emily was shocked at the question. She had only been spending time with Naomi, in fact, Naomi was the only person she'd been thinking about for a week. "Why would you think that?"

Naomi looked up and gestured toward her. "It looks like you're headed out and you're looking rather beautiful, so...,"

"Oh, no. I mean, yes, I'm going out but it's not a date." Emily replied, trying to assure her. She made a disgusted face. "It's my faculty Christmas do, and I'm required to be there, seeing as I organised it."

Naomi looked relieved and didn't bother to disguise it, making Emily smile.

"Would you like some company?" Naomi asked, hope lacing her voice. "It'll be fun, we'll make snarky comments about everyone."

Emily laughed. That was another thing about Naomi. She had the ability to make her laugh, and around Christmas time, that was rare.

"I'd love some company. I'd be bored to tears otherwise."

* * *

><p>"Jesus, Ems." Naomi looked around the room.<p>

"What?"

"I thought you said this was a Christmas party?" Naomi scoffed. "I've seen better parties at political conventions." She quipped.

Emily didn't take offense. She didn't feel she was qualified to organise the damn thing, but yet for the last three years, they cajoled her into it. "I don't know what they expect of me." Emily told her, as she too, looked around.

All the other teachers and their partners where standing in individual groups, barely talking and looking bored as hell.

"A little holiday cheer wouldn't go amiss, Emily. I mean, I know you hate the season and all, but not everyone else feels that way."

Emily narrowed her eyes at the blonde, crossed her arms in front of her. "And what would you have done differently?" She challenged Naomi.

Naomi caught the annoyed look Emily sent her way, as she looked around. The party was being held in the auditorium and Naomi saw a stage at the end of the room, and an idea hit her.

"Wait right there." She command, as she left Emily and walked around to enter the backstage. She walked out onto the stage with confidence and watched as Emily came toward the front of the crowd. "Hi. My name's Naomi and my friend Emily has tasked me with getting this party off to a great start."

Emily cocked her head, wondering what the other girl was up to.

"Let's really kick it into gear by passing out the Secret Santa presents! So how 'bout everyone come on-,"

Emily rushed up to the stage and grabbed Naomi's attention, cutting her off. "Naomi, we don't actually have any Secret Santa presents. It's not something we normally do."

"Really? Oh, well...," Naomi stood back up and addressed the crowd again. "Miss Fitch just informed me that we don't have any presents, so...," She trailed off as she stepped backstage, "I guess I'll just have to take this bag of presents with me."

She was dragging a large bag across the stage, acting as if she was leaving, when she stopped suddenly.

"Or, we could take a peak inside and see what we've got here?" Naomi smiled at the teachers. She opened the bag and pulled out a present, reading the tag. "Looks like we've got one here for...Stephen. Where's Stephen?" The lacrosse coach stepped through the crowd and walked to the stage. Naomi smiled as she handed him the package. "Here you go."

She watched him open it up, look at it and smile. "It's a Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot! Thanks! I always wanted one of these!"

Emily watched in fascination as her adult coworkers transformed into kids, because every time Naomi called another name, another long ago wanted present was handed out.

Naomi pulled out another, smaller present and turned over the passing out of the gifts to one of the teachers, and she jumped down off the stage. She made her way over to where Emily was standing.

"This one has your name on it."

"I don't want it." Emily stated bluntly, looking at it as if it would bite her. "Give it to someone else."

"It's not for anyone else, it's for you." Naomi said quietly, pleading with her. "Please take it?"

Emily didn't move a muscle, but the look on Naomi's face was weakening her defences. She couldn't take it anymore. "Fine! Give it to me."

Naomi smiled brightly, as she handed it over to the red head. Emily held the small package in her hand, unsure of what to do with it.

"Well, go on and open it." Naomi coaxed her, confident that she would love the gift.

Emily decided that she would open it, not wanting to be the one to wipe the smile off Naomi's face, so she gingerly started picking at the wrapping paper slowly. She could see the blonde fidget as she shifted from foot to foot, and Emily smiled at her, enjoying keeping the blonde on edge.

"C'mon, Ems, just rip it open!"

She found an ornately designed wooden box under the wrapping, and that in itself was beautiful. It had a latch on it, which Emily flicked open and she lifted the lid. The first feeling Emily had was anger as she looked at the gift inside the box. She looked up at a smiling Naomi, then back down.

Inside the box was a delicate sterling silver necklace, with a pendant attached to it. The design on the pendant was old, older than anything Emily had ever seen before.

Well, actually, she had seen it before.

"Where did you get this?" She asked the blonde.

"It's for you."

"But where did you get it?" Emily asked again, fear mixing with the anger.

Naomi's face fell. "You don't like it?" She asked, sadly.

"Why can't you answer me?" Emily demanded. "It's a simple question, Naomi."

"But nothing's simple, is it?" Naomi stated, feeling Emily's emotions as strongly as she felt her own. "Maybe I should go, yeah? I think my mates were going out tonight with Katie, so I think I'll meet up with them."

She turned and walked away, feeling like she was leaving her heart behind her.

Emily had thrown the necklace away when she was fifteen. Naomi knew she did, because as soon as it hit the trash bin it automatically returned back to Naomi at the Pole. She didn't know why, but she carried it with her ever since.

The necklace was the gift that Naomi had made for fifteen year old Emily. Back then, she had put a little bit of magic in it so Emily wouldn't feel the heartbreak she was feeling so badly, and just before she gave it back to the red head tonight, she placed a large chunk of her magic inside the pendant, so that Emily would always have a bit of Christmas cheer with her.

Naomi was about to leave the school when she heard her name being called.

"I'm sorry, Emily." She apologised, without turning around.

"It was Katie, right? She's had it all this time?"

"No, it wasn't Katie."

Emily was standing right behind Naomi, willing her to turn around and slowly she did. "Have you been following me?"

"No. Not really."

"All those presents in there? How did you know?" Emily was almost pleading with the blonde now.

"I just do."

"That's it? You just know?" Emily asked in disbelief. "Look, if you're just going to lie, maybe you should leave."

Naomi sighed at her words. She knew that Emily was upset, but she had the ability to hurt Naomi with her words. "I'm not lying. Can't you just...can't you just trust me?"

"You know what, _Naoms_, I thought you were different...special, but you're just like everyone else." Emily's anger was showing, but she didn't care. "You made me feel something for you and all you've done is play me for a fool."

"That's not true, Ems!" Naomi was angry now too. "I've tried to get to know you, because I feel something for you too, but whenever I try to show you the real me, you push me away!"

"I've done no such thing!"

"You wanna know about my job? You wanna know how I knew about the presents? About the necklace?" Naomi was breathless, as she gestured toward Emily's hand where she was still clutching the gift.

"That's all I've ever ask for is honesty!" Emily stated just as heatedly. "But if that's out of the que-,"

"_I AM SANTA CLAUS!_"

Emily's jaw closed with an audible click as Naomi's words rang throughout the hallway. She looked as if Naomi had slapped her.

"It's true. I've been Santa Claus for thirty years. Now you know, does that make you happy?"

Emily's look turned frosty and when she spoke, Naomi felt a chill run through her "You're right, Naomi, you'd better go." She turned to go back into the auditorium. "It'd be best if you didn't come around anymore."

Naomi felt her heart break right then. "But, Ems, jus-,"

"We're too different, Naomi and I don't see this going anywhere, so...just, please leave me alone?" Emily started walking away again, but turned to look back at the dejected blonde. "Just one question...how did you get that necklace?"

There wasn't a need for deflection anymore, it was over, Naomi knew, so she was totally honest. "It came back to me when you threw it away. I made it specially for you when you were fifteen."

"Hmm...nice story." Emily turned and walked away.

* * *

><p>Effy paced back and forth in front of Kieran. She hadn't been back to Bristol since that morning Naomi showed up with Emily. She had been searching for answers about Emily and that search had led her to Kieran.<p>

The old man stroked his beard as he watched the young legendary figure pace. "What's on your mind, lass?"

"I'm just wondering why my mother never told Naomi the truth, or you for that matter?" Effy asked frustrated. "She had a right to know, don't you think?"

"Aye, she did, but your mum thought she wouldn't have been able to deal with it properly. I mean, look at how she reacted when we told her!"

Effy shook her head. "You still should have told her. She may have handled the situation better if you had."

"We couldn't tell her, Effy! That's not how it works and you know that!" Kieran was losing his temper. He didn't like being questioned by the young girl. "If you would pay more attention to _your_ duties, you'd know this stuff!"

"But Emily is her _soulmate_! Naomi's always questioned why she was able to see her true form, and it hurt her that she couldn't make teenage Emily happy!" Effy argued.

"You don't think I know that! That's why the powers that be told her there where other plans for her." Kieran roared, causing Gina to run into the room.

"What's going on here?" The older Campbell asked, looking between the two.

"Nothing! Just this young upstart thinking she knows more than me!" Kieran scoffed. "Effy, Naomi has to learn this on her own. Trust me, if I could tell her, I would."

"So now what?" Effy asked, still trying to find a way to help.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, Effy. Keep making sure Naomi doesn't freak out. Keep helping her."

Kieran was about to say something else, when one of the elves came running into the office.

"Father Time, we've got a problem!"

"What now?"

"Hamish is stirring up trouble, saying how we have to take steps to preserve Christmas." Thalmus was Naomi's most loyal elf, while Hamish was her worst critic. "He doesn't believe she can do it, so he's trying to start a riot!"

"Fecking hell!" Kieran cried out. "Why does this shite always happen to me? Effy, get back and tell the others, and for Gods sake, make sure Naomi doesn't fuck up!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: and another one down...thoughts? Feelings? Let me know what you think...hit the review button and a leave me a note:)**

**probably one one or two more in this one, so...,**

**Marci:-)**


	4. Believing

**A/N: hello everyone, hope you all had a great New Years...sorry about the delay:)**

**disclaimer: Skins is still not mine and as much I wish it wasn't true, any typos and errors are...**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 4: Believing<strong>

"What do you mean, she's been crying for hours?" Effy returned from the Pole to chaos.

Freddie and Cook were fighting again, Panda and Thomas had fucked off to God only knew where, and Lara and JJ were freaking out. And Naomi apparently was locked in her room, crying.

"Yeah, she went out with Emily and when we all got back from the club, she was up there. " JJ stated nervously. "I've never heard anything like it, Ef. Panda and Thomas couldn't take it anymore and left, Lara tried talking to her, and even Freddie and Cook tried. Nothing seems to work!"

Effy watched as JJ started to breakdown right in front of her eyes. Lara rushed over to try and help him, leaving Effy alone.

"Fuck this for a bunch of soldiers!" She mumbled, as she closed her eyes. Next thing she knew, she was inside Naomi's bedroom. "Nai?"

"Go away, Elizabeth."

'_Ouch! That hurt._' Effy knew someone was serious when her full name was used. But she knew that Naomi was just lashing out because she was hurting. "What happened, Naomi?"

Naomi's sobs that had racked her body subsided about an hour ago, leaving her feeling a pain so huge, that she didn't know how to end it.

"I told Emily the truth."

"And?" Effy knew there was more to the story, it was just a matter of getting Naomi to tell her.

"That's it."

"So she knows all about having to get married?" Effy clarified.

Naomi sat up then, shaking her head. "No, I didn't even get that far. I told her I was Santa, and she looked at me as if I was crazy. She walked away, Ef. I thought...," she paused to swallow a few tears that threatened to fall again, "I thought she was it, but she didn't even want to hear what I had to say, she...,"

"Walked away." Effy finished for her, quietly, weighing up the consequences of telling Naomi the truth or keeping it quiet.

"Yeah. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess." Naomi said as the tears refused to stay back and she started crying again. "I've never felt like this before."

"Fuck it!" Effy exclaimed loudly, making Naomi jump, as she started pacing back and forth. "It is meant to be."

"What? What are you talking about?" Naomi looked at the brunette sceptically. "If that were true, she wouldn't have left me standing alone, she wouldn't have been so angry and cold!"

"Naomi, I'm going to tell you a couple of things and I don't want you to say a word until I'm done talking, okay?" Effy sat next to her, looking the blonde in the eye, making sure she had the girls attention. "First, Hamish is starting an elf rebellion-,"

"What?" Naomi rose up from the bed and stared down at Effy.

"I told you not to interrupt!" Effy exclaimed.

"But-,"

"No buts, Nai! Hamish is plotting to take over as Santa. He doesn't have faith that you'll pull this off and marry." Effy explained. "So that brings us to the second problem."

"And what can be worse than what's already happened?" Naomi asked, suspiciously.

Effy took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Emily's your soulmate." She said quickly and braced herself for an outburst.

"She's...my...how...," Naomi stuttered, trying to find the right question, "but she...I don't understand."

Effy let out the breath she didn't even realise she'd been holding when Naomi didn't blow up like she thought.

"Soulmates are meant to find each other during certain points in life, finding each other too soon or too late or sometimes never finding each other at all, and the lucky ones, the reallylucky ones, the ones that meet too soon, they get to meet again when the time is right."

Naomi looked seriously confused and crushed, all at the same time. "So what does that even mean, Effy? I'm not following you."

"Are you really that dense when it comes to love?" Effy asked, wide eyed, but then she shook her head. "Never mind! Don't answer that. Look, everyone has a soulmate." Effy declared, feeling like she was explaining it to small child. "But whether you end up with your soulmate is determined by the Powers That Be, who happen to be Kieran and...,"

Effy cleared her throat. She had never been one to brag about her role in the Assembly of Legendary Figures, mainly because she was still a young girl compared with some of them. Obviously, her mother and Kieran never told any of them either.

"And? Who else, Effy?" Naomi sounded as if she already knew the answer.

"Me."

* * *

><p>"Emily? What happened?" Katie had already been home for a couple of hours by the time Emily stopped wandering around in the cold and decided to go home. She had been lounging on the sofa when Emily came through the door.<p>

"Nothing. Why do you asked?" She stormed in and flopped down next to Katie.

"Uh, because you look as if you're about to take on Muhammad Ali during his championship years. What's going on? Did you have a fight with Naomi?"

Emily blew out a frustrated breath, knowing that her sister would keep harping on her until she broke down. But she wasn't quite ready to discuss it yet, so she deflected. "Remember that Christmas when we were fifteen? You got that handbag you had been wanting, and I got that-,"

"Fancy ass silver locket. Santa presents, yeah, I remember. What about it?" Katie looked confused.

Emily cocked her head, still trying to figure out how everything went to shit in such a short amount of time. "It was a locket?" She asked, grabbing on to that new piece of info, as she reached into her bag and pulled out the necklace that she had forgotten to give back to Naomi.

"Where did you find that?" Katie asked in surprise. "You threw it away the day after Christmas."

Emily turned the pendant over in her hand, inspecting it, not like she did the first time she got it, with contempt, but really looking at it. She noticed the intricate designs etched all over the sterling silver piece, and also along each link in the chain, tiny scrolled knots weaving into one another. The work that went into this piece of jewellery showed passion and talent. She ran her fingernail along the edge of it, feeling the slight gap.

"How did you know it was a locket?" Emily asked, keeping her eyes glued to the necklace.

Katie shrugged when she realised that Emily wasn't going to answer her right away. "I looked at it that Christmas, when you went to take a shower. After you got back to the room, you looked at it as if it was about to strangle you, so you grabbed it up and threw it away."

"And you took it out when I wasn't looking, right?" Emily finally looked at her sister, almost pleading with her to say yes.

Katie shook her head. "No, Emsy. I thought about it, I'm not gonna lie, but I knew something had changed for you that Christmas, so I left it."

Emily started crying. Tears that she had been holding back since her argument with Naomi came flooding out of her, causing Katie to look afraid before she scooted closer to her and wrapped her up in a classic Fitch hug.

"Naomi told me that she was Santa Claus tonight." She finally said between sobs, telling Katie everything that had happened.

When Emily was finished, Katie gave her one last squeeze before releasing her. "Shit, Ems...I'm sorry. She didn't seem like a fucking loon. A bit childish sometimes, maybe, but who knew she was batshit crazy?"

"But that's just the thing, Katie, she didn't seem crazy at all! She acted normal and sane, a little too into the holiday season, but...I thought we had something really special."

"And she said that she made you that necklace?"

"Yeah, when I was fifteen." Emily said looking down at it again. "The thing I remember about that Christmas was being totally in love with Kelly from school and I foolishly wrote a letter to Santa, asking him to make Kelly love me."

Katie laughed. "I know."

"What? How do you know?" Emily asked blushing.

"Oh, c'mon, Emsy! You know very well that we both still believed at that age. I used to read your Christmas letters to make sure we didn't ask for the same things, yeah?"

This was news to Emily, but not totally unexpected. "But you didn't say anything. You usually made fun of me for shit like that."

"You were having a rough time of things that year, Ems. You had just come out to mum and dad, which went over rather spectacularly, I might add. It just didn't seem to be the time to give you shit about that." Katie explained. "So, Naomi told you she's Santa and gave you that necklace? The same necklace from ten years ago?"

"She gave it to me tonight and when I asked her where she got it...," Emily trailed off, thinking hard about that night, ten years ago. "What do you remember from that night?"

"Oh God, I can barely remember last week and you're asking me about ten years ago?" Katie laughed, before noticing that Emily was serious. "Um, sorry...okay, let me think...I remember I woke up and heard voices downstairs...so I got up to find out what was going on," Katie paused, thinking hard about that night, "you were down there and...I think...oh," her eyes went wide as she remembered, "some fat guy dressed as Santa Claus!"

Emily watched as Katie bounced up and down on the sofa, excited that she could remember. She didn't remember anything close to that. "There wasn't any man, Katie."

"Of course there was!" Katie stated, her lisp more pronounced with her excitement. "I thought he was there to rob us and you sa-,"

"It was a woman." Emily cut her off, remembering now. "She was tall, had blonde hair, was dressed in red...I asked her if she got my letter...," Emily had a strange, pained look on her face. Katie watched as she once again held up the pedant in her hand, staring at it intensely.

"What is it, Emily?" Katie whispered, not wanting to startle her.

"She told me that she did."

"What else did she say?" Katie asked, terribly curious.

It all came back to Emily as she sat there, every detail. It almost slammed into her, the recognition did, as she clutched the locket in her hand.

"She said she was sorry, but the Powers That Be had plans for Kelly. I hated her, I hated Christmas and everything about it...why didn't we remember any of that until now?" Emily wondered aloud.

She didn't wait for a response, merely pried open the locket, feeling that it held a very huge secret.

Katie and Emily gasped as a light burst out of the small container, as if it had been trapped in there for years. Neither of them could move, as images raced through their minds, one on top of the other, until they all started forming a picture.

By the end of it, both girls had passed out from the mental onslaught, but by then, both of them knew the truth.

* * *

><p>"Nai! Stop for one fucking second, will ya?" Cook shouted above the wind.<p>

"I can't!"

After Effy's little revelation, Naomi went back to the North Pole, but every time she tried stepping across the boundary line that separated her realm from the world, she kept getting bounced back.

"I have to get inside there, Cook!" She yelled back at him, knowing that he would help her. "Please help me?"

Cook stared at her for a few moments, before smiling. "Alright then, what are we waiting for?" He stepped past her and across the barrier, then turned and looked at her expectantly. "Well, come on."

Naomi tried to follow her friend, but once again, she was forced back and landed about ten feet away from the entrance.

"What the fuck? What's going on?" Cook stepped back over to where she was laying in the snow.

"I don't know! I've been trying for two hours to get home, but that happens every time!"

Cook didn't know what to do, so he told her to wait right there.

"Well, where the fuck else am I gonna go, you twat?" She bit back as he disappeared.

Cook entered his room and noticed it was quiet. He poked his head out the door and listened for the normal sounds of the North Pole, but heard nothing. He slipped out of the room and made his way into the manufacturing area, where the elves were usually camped out at this time of the year.

With only a few more days before Christmas, everyone was normally busting a nut to get everything ready, but no one was around.

"Bloody hell!" Cook exclaimed quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

He traveled down to where he knew Kieran and Gina should be, stopping just outside the door and listened. 'Jackpot!' He thought as the sound of voices came muffled through the door.

"_Alright you guys, keep an eye on them and don't let _him_ move!_" Cook heard from the other side of the door, accompanied by footsteps.

He quickly ducked behind a cabinet that was standing there, just in time, as the door swung open and out filed Hamish, along with three other burly little elves.

"Sinead has informed me that she has used up the last of her magic, which means, she can't get back to the Pole." Hamish stated as they walked toward Naomi's office, almost like a five star general and his lackeys. "If she misses the Christmas Eve deadline, I'll have a small window of opportunity to slip in and become Santa...,"

Cook couldn't hear anymore as the elves rounded the corner. "Fuck me!" He exclaimed as he stepped out from his cover and made his way to the door again, opening it slightly to see what was going on in there. "Fuck me!" He said again.

Kieran, Gina, Thalmus and a bunch of the others were tied up with Christmas lights. Truly stuck, they were and Cook saw that they were guarded by another group of elves, obviously on Hamish's orders.

"Think, Cookie...think...," he said to himself, softly. He was about to rush in there, when an idea struck. He knew he'd never be able to take on the elves alone, they were surprisingly strong and crafty little fuckers, so he flashed out to where Naomi was still standing.

"Jesus, Cook! Where the hell have you been?"

"Calm down, Naomikins. Look, I didn't believe Effy when she told us about Hamish, but it's true."

Naomi hung her head at the news, as Cook told her what he had seen. She had been hoping that she'd be able to fix it. "If Hamish is leading the charge, I've got no hope whatsoever!" She stated, feeling the urge to cry.

Alright, so she never wanted this job, actually fought it tooth and nail at first, but she loved being Santa! It had given her a purpose, it made her care, it made her a better human being, for fucks sake! So losing this on top of losing Emily? She didn't think it could get any worse.

"Naomi Sunflower Campbell! Don't you fucking _dare_ give up on me now!" This brought Naomi out of her daze for a moment, knowing that Cook and Freddie only ever used her full given name when they were serious. "Come on."

She watched him start to walk away. "Where are we going, Cook?"

"We're going back to get the rest of the gang! And then we're going to appeal to the Powers That Be to get you an extension." He called back over the wind.

"I won't leave, Cook. I've got to get inside. Mum's in there, I won't go!" Naomi stood fast on this decision.

"Fine. You're stubborn enough to keep trying, so hang tight and I'll be back with reinforcements." Cook walked back over to her, looking her in the eyes. "I'll be as quick as I can, yeah? Remember Blondie, no matter what, Freds and I are behind you all the way." He leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek, before flashing out of sight.

Another two hours later, Naomi was no closer to getting inside the Pole than she was when she first got there. No amount of screaming would help either, she tried. She was sitting in a snowbank on top of the highest peak at the North Pole, looking out at the blanket of white, watching two polar bears play and wondering what she could have done differently, when she heard snow crunch behind her.

Next thing she saw was black, as Hamish's elves slipped a hood over her head and knocked her out so they wouldn't have to deal with her struggling.

"Hamish is going to be thrilled." The youngest elf in the group said. "Keeping her locked up is gonna help him become Santa.

The group laughed as they drug her through the snow. "Stupid humans!"

In Naomi's blacked out state, she saw red hair and chocolate eyes and the cutest smile in the whole world.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God! <em>Naomi is Santa Claus<em>!" The excited exclamation came from Katie when the twins came to. It would've been harder to believe if it hadn't of been for the overwhelming feeling of peace and love they both felt after the mental images subsided.

Those images showed the twins Naomi's whole existance as Santa Claus, how she had become Kris Kringle, how she reacted...everything, right down to Naomi hunched over her worktable, creating Emily's necklace with a look of love on her face.

The older twin was shocked to discover that it was Naomi standing in their lounge ten years ago and that she was the reason Emily was able to almost deal with the holiday now. But why couldn't she see the blonde back then, she wondered, glancing over at her sister to gauge her reaction. The sight Katie was greeted with broke her heart.

Emily sat there frozen, tears running down her face.

"Emily, what's wrong?" She asked in concern.

"Naomi told me she had feelings for me, but she lied."

Katie looked at her twin in disbelief. She could literally feel the love that Naomi felt for her sister, and to be honest, Katie would swear Naomi fell for Emily ten years ago, her feelings were that strong, so she was honestly shocked that Emily didn't feel it too.

"What are you saying? Have you completely lost it?" Katie almost shouted.

Emily wiped her tears, trying to stem the flow of them, working to adjust her thoughts so that she could word herself better. "She loves me, Katie...why didn't she tell me that?"

"No shit! If she loved you any harder, we'd all feel the heat and burn, but would you have believed her?" Katie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You've gotta go and see her, Emsy. You've gotta make this right!"

"I doubt she'll talk to me, Katie. I was such a bitch to her." Emily replied sadly. "I treated her like she was nothing."

"Trust me, Emily, she'll talk to you." Katie stated with confidence as she stood up and walked to the closet and grabbed her coat. When Emily didn't follow, she lost her patience. "Don't just sit there, you twat, we have to fix this shit!" Emily scrambled off the sofa and grabbed her coat from where she threw it earlier.

Katie left the flat with Emily in tow, almost like the old days, when they were younger. But this time, instead of keeping her sister in her shadow, Katie was marching Emily toward her future.

* * *

><p>AN: Well?

Love you all!

Marci


	5. Breaking The Barrier

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skins...like that was even in question? Any typos/grammatical errors are all mine.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 5: Breaking Down The Walls<span>**

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Freddie asked as he opened the door to find Emily and Katie standing there. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere breaking someone else's heart?"

Emily instantly felt a pain in her heart at Freddie's words, suddenly regretting her actions even more. "I didn't...I mean...I'm sor-,"

"Cut the shit, Freds, she really sorry, yeah?" Katie cut in to stop Emily's stuttering. "Where's Naomi?" She pushed her way past him into the house, dragging Emily with her.

"I have no fucking clue where she is, she left here hours ago." Freddie came to stand in front of the twins, stopping their progress through the house. "I won't let you hurt her again!"

Katie was about to have a go at when a voice reached them from the top of the stairs. "Calm down, Freddie." Effy's voice brimmed with confidence and strength, and a smile stretched across her face as she saw the twins. "Hey, Katie." She stepped of the last step and stood in front of them. "Hello, Emily."

The younger twin looked up, expecting to see the contempt in Effy's eyes as Freddie had, but she was met with sympathy and understanding.

"You've got questions, yeah?" Effy asked, making Emily nod. "Well, you're in luck today, because I have answers and no time to play the mysterious one, so how about we have a cuppa?"

Effy ushered them into the kitchen, as Lara was getting the kettle ready. As Katie and Emily sat, Panda, Thomas, JJ and Freddie took seats as well, while Effy sat at the head of the table.

Everyone was quiet as Lara prepared the tea and brought it to the table. Once she sat next to JJ, Katie couldn't take the tension anymore.

"What the hell is going on?" The older twin asked, huffily.

"Do you want the short story or the long story?" Effy smirked at her, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I think my sister deserves the truth, don't you?"

"JJ?" Effy gestured to him that he should explain.

It took JJ thirty minutes to explain things to the twins, with Katie asking questions along the way. Once he was done, Katie looked around the table at them all. Emily was strangely silent.

"So...let me get this straight!" The older twin was doing her best to keep everything in line, and to also not laugh her arse off. "Naomi _is_ Santa Claus, Panda is the Easter Bunny, Thomo is the Tooth Fairy...am I getting this right?" She asked, earning nods. "Freddie is the Sandman and Effy is Mother Nature?"

"Yup, you've got it." JJ smiled at her. "There are a couple of others, but that's it in a nut shell."

"What about Cook?" Katie was curious.

"What about Cook?" JJ asked, confused at the question.

"Well, I'm assuming he's one of your lot, am I right?" Katie watched as everyone nodded. "So who is he? I only ask because I'm curious...he's not something lame, like a hob, is he?"

Effy smirked at the question, not really expecting the older twin know what a hob was. "You'd almost think that, wouldn't you? But no, Cook is...more central in the assembly."

Emily glanced up at the sound in Effy's voice and she looked at Katie.

"What does that mean?" She pleaded with the brunette.

"Cook is Cupid." Freddie huffed, crossing his arms in front of him. "I don't understand why we're wasting time with her?" He looked to Effy.

"Because, Freddie, she's important!" Effy showed annoyance for the first time ever, causing everyone around the table to feel a slight frisson of something in the air, almost electric.

"What do you mean I'm important?" Emily asked.

"What she means is," Lara interjected, knowing that things could get a bit out of control if Effy and Freddie had there way, "you're important to Naomi."

"I don't understand how. Let's just say I believe all of this, one hundred percent in everything, why me?" Emily was beyond frustrated now and bordered on believing she was insane, even though Katie was sitting next to her, eating this stuff up.

Effy sighed deeply, feeling the need for a strong drink. "Because you're her soulmate."

Emily's eyes widened and Katie gasped, but then in true twin fashion they both asked "what?" at the same time.

Effy had to stop herself from laughing, and she started explaining everything to them.

When she was done, Emily was about to ask one of the million questions running around her mind, but a loud crash from upstairs got everyone's attention.

Panda jumped and nervously fidgeted. "Blooming hell! What was that?"

"_Freddie!_"

"Looks like Cupid's returned." Katie said, dryly as they heard him bounding down the stairs.

"Cook!" Freddie called out to him, and soon he stepped into the kitchen and looked around.

"Oh, thank fuck!" He panted from the run. "Shit's gettin' real, people!"

"Whoa, slow down!" Effy commanded. "Start from the beginning and go from there."

Cook told them how he heard Hamish plotting against Naomi, and how they had Kieran and Gina tied up, and how Naomi couldn't cross over.

"It's a right mess, Effs," Cook stated sadly, "but I figure we go back and help Naomi get in and nip this in the bud!"

"Uh, Cook, where's Naomi now?" Freddie asked, suddenly realising that she wasn't there.

"She wouldn't leave!"

"Whatdya mean she wouldn't leave?" Freddie got in his face, the stress of the situation getting to him.

"Calm yer tits, Freds! She wouldn't leave her mum up there under the control of an elf gone crazy!" Cook snapped back.

"Are you fucking _serious_ right now?" Katie asked, finally grasping how ludicrous this all sounded. "Elves gone wild?"

"It's best if you see for yourself, Katiekins." Cook told her, grinning like a crazy person himself. "So, whatdya say? Who's with me?"

He stood looking from Effy to Freddie to Thomas, JJ and Panda.

"Count me in!" Panda replied. "I'm next on the list if she goes down, so...,"

"I'm with Panda." Thomas stated firmly, smiling at his girlfriend.

"Well, you know JJ and I are in." Lara responded with an almost snooty attitude. "Hamish has been a pest from the moment he came to the Pole, so it'll be nice to see him taken down a few pegs."

JJ nodded with her, calculating plans in his head. "We should have stayed at home while Naomi did this...," he said quietly.

"You couldn't have known this would happen, Jay." Effy smiled at him, setting him at ease, earning a smile of gratitude from Lara. "Well, you know I'm in. If he thinks I'm going to let him slid into the role of Santa Claus, he's got another thing coming."

Freddie and Cook stared at Effy in surprise. They had never seen her show this much emotion about anything, and it was throwing them off a bit.

"Freds? How bout it, my old friend?" Cook looked expectantly at him, afraid he was pissed off enough to say no.

The taller boys face softened as a smile played across his lips, turning into a smirk. "Cook, do you really think I'd let you and Nai handle this yourselves?"

"Yeah!" Cook shouted, jumping up and down and grabbing Freddie by the shoulder, shaking him. "I knew you'd help, you soppy fucker!" The next thing Cook did shocked the twins. He grabbed Freddie's face and planted a kiss smack on his lips. "I fuckin' love ya, man!"

Freddie pulled away laughing, because he knew it was true. Cook loved him and Naomi more than anyone else in the world and would literally do anything for them.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Freddie said before turning serious again. "So how are we gonna do this?"

JJ stepped forward. "I have a plan."

Effy smiled. "Of course you do, JJ. Let's hear it."

"It's actually quite simple, we just need to get Naomi inside the Pole. Hamish is almost all talk, he's never had the full support of the elves before, so if we can get her inside, let them see that she hasn't given up...,"

Thomas looked thoughtful for a moment before voicing one important fact. "That won't change the fact that Christmas Eve is upon us."

"No, you're right, Thomo, but Naomi's gonna appeal to the Powers That Be, ask for an extension, another year perhaps and th-,"

"There can be no extension." Effy stated sadly, but with a finality that was clear.

Cooks anger flared up. "How can you say that? You have no faith in anything, do ya, _princess_? You love playing with people and you don't fuckin' care who gets hurt!"

"Cook." Freddie quietly warned, placing a hand on Cooks arm, which was immediately shrugged off. "Leave it, mate."

"No I won't leave it!" He turned back to Effy. "Naomi is your friend! We've all _tried_ to be your friend, Effy, but you won't let us in, so you know what? Fuck you and the storm you rode in on! We don't need you!"

Effy took every bit of Cooks anger, every word of it, and calmly waited until he was done. "Are you finished?" She asked in that same calm voice.

Emily was finally grasping how serious they were treating this and her logical brain kicked in. "Stop! Both of you just stop it right now!" Her eyes were blazing as she looked back and forth between Cook and Effy "If Naomi's in trouble, do you honestly think arguing is helping her? Now, how about you all stop acting like my seven year old students and start acting like grown ups!"

Effy smirked at her, while Cook looked at her sheepishly.

"You're right, Emily."

"Sorry, Emilio...it's just, Naomi means a lot to me and Freddie and believe it or not, becoming Santa Claus has been the best thing to happen to her."

"I get it, Cook, I really do, but you acting like a child isn't helping."

Katie smiled at her sister. Emily really couldn't help herself, always the teacher, the mediator. "So what the fuck are we waiting for?" She waited for an answer as everyone apart from Emily stared at her stunned.

"You wanna help?" Lara voiced the question all of her friends were thinking.

"Why not?"

"No...it's just, well...I didn't expect you to." Lara stumbled through her explanation, blushing.

"Look, I know it's hard to believe, but I really like Naomi, yeah? She was fun to hang out with _and_ she made my holiday-depressed sister happy and less of a mardy bitch, so yeah, I'm gonna help." Katie explained, hands on her hips, ignoring Emily's blush, glaring at all of the legendary figures, daring them to tell her no.

After a few tense moments, Effy broke the tension. "I think that's a brilliant idea, Katie. So how about we go?"

As everyone started moving, Emily hesitated for a moment as she remembered what Effy had said earlier.

"Don't think about it now, Emily. You'll only drive yourself crazy until you talk to Naomi about it." Effy stated simply, reading the young girls mind. "C'mon, let me show you a world of wonder."

Emily rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah, sure." She replied sceptically, but nevertheless followed everyone else into the lounge. It wasn't until she came to a stop next to her sister that a thought came to her. "Um...guys? How are we supposed to get there?"

Cook laughed as he stepped next to Katie, wrapping an arm around the older twins waist. "Magic! Hold on, Katiekins." He told her, winking at Emily.

Before she could say anything, Katie and Cook disappeared. "What the _fuck_?" She watched as Panda and Thomas went next and then Lara and JJ, leaving her standing with Freddie and Effy, who were both smiling at her.

"You still don't fully believe yet, Emily, but you will." Freddie said as he nodded at her and flashed out of the room.

"And then there were two." Effy chuckled. "Are you ready?"

Emily turned to find Effy looking at her expectantly. She swallowed the small fear of the unknown that had formed in her stomach and nodded.

Effy stepped up to her, wrapped her arm around her waist and smiled down at her. "You really need to hold on tight." Emily did as instructed, gripping the brunette so tightly that if Effy needed to actually breath to live, she'd probably die from lack of oxygen. "And off we go." Effy told her, before they too disappeared from the room.

* * *

><p>"I told you that I didn't want to be disturbed!" Hamish whined as the young cocky elf stood in front of him.<p>

"Trust me, Hamish, you're gonna want to see this."

"Whatever!" Hamish stood up from Naomi's desk and followed the elf out. "This had better be good."

The two elves followed along a hallway that led to Naomi's private rooms. Hamish looked around and planned what he was going to do with the space once he was Santa. The younger elf, Alaric, stopped in front of the wall and smiled at Hamish before opening a hidden door. Hamish stood there waiting for the light from the hallway to reveal what was inside.

Alaric led him down another hallway, opening the door at the end and flicked on the lights, walking past shelves on both sides, before coming to a stop.

His eyes widened when he saw Santa Claus sitting in the corner, tied to a chair, out cold. He laughed out loud, as he stepped closer to the human. "This is really great!" He looked over at Alaric. "We just need to keep her here until tomorrow and then I'll be Santa!"

Alaric smiled with pride, glad he was able to work his way up. "Yes, you will be, but I feel that a token like this deserves a reward, don't you?"

Hamish was so high on his power trip, that he didn't even care that the young elf was trying to get something out of him. "You're absolutely right. What do you want?"

"I think head elf will be a decent reward."

"Done! Come with me and we'll make it official."

Hamish pulled the door to the room shut, leaving Naomi in the dark once again. What he hadn't known was she had woken up groggy a half hour earlier and her head felt like it was three sizes too big. She was disorientated, but then it became clear the minute she heard Alaric and Hamish talking outside.

Naomi shut her eyes and dropped her head back down just as the door opened. She felt nauseous throughout the elves' entire exchange, but kept up the ruse of being passed out still, and that was hard to do, because she wanted to stand up and thump them both a couple of times for being twats!

She didn't know what to do now. Naomi was helpless tied up and she knew she couldn't scream out, because anyone that would help her was tied up too. She sat in the dark stash closet and for the third time since becoming Santa, she cried.

* * *

><p>"Holy shitting hell, it's bloody freezing here!" Katie cried out as Cook let go of her.<p>

"What part of _"North Pole"_ did you not understand, sweetheart?" Cook quipped as he looked around for Naomi. "Naomi?"

Panda and Thomas where next to show up, followed by Lara, JJ and Freddie

"Where is she?" Freddie as Cook, looking around. "I thought you said she was here."

"She was. I left her right here!" Cook said, pointing to the spot where he last saw his friend. "Maybe she got in." He muttered to himself, while everyone else looked around.

Effy showed up with Emily to find the rest of the group standing around. "What's wrong?"

"Naomi's not here." Cook answered, still wondering where she could've gone.

"And you're sure she was here, right here?" Effy asked again, pointing to the spot they were on.

"Yes, damn it! I know where she was, what I don't fucking know is where she is now!"

"Alright, calm down, yeah? We'll find her, she can't have gone far." Effy replied, as if she was trying to placate a five year old.

"Um, Cook?"

Effy and Cook turned at the sound of Emily's voice, who had started looking around for Naomi as soon as Effy let her go. What she found was the sign of a struggle.

"What is it, Emsy?" Katie asked, stepping next to her twin.

"I think something might have happened to her." Emily pointed to the spot that clearly showed four sets of footprints.

"Fuck! Alright, everyone, listen up! I think they might have Naomi inside, so we're gonna have to get in quietly and find her." Cook spoke to them like he was an army general and they were his troops. "Low and slow, people! Keep in mind that any elf you come across walking around is part of Hamish's crew...take them out quietly."

"Jesus!" Freddie muttered under his breath. "Don't you think that's going a bit overboard, Cook?"

"No! You'll see once we're in there, yeah? So let's go!" Cook grabbed Katie again and flashed out.

Everyone else followed suit, except for Effy and Emily.

"What the hell, Effy? Let's go!" The red head pleaded with Effy, who hadn't moved, wanting to get inside to see what was going on.

"Why?"

Emily was taken back by the question, confusion written on her face. "What?"

"You heard me. Why is it so important to you?" Effy crossed her arms in front of her, wanting to get to the heart of the matter. "I'm not trying to knock you back, but seriously, what does Naomi mean to you?"

Emily stopped the protest that was right on the tip of her tongue. What _did_ Naomi mean to her? Hadn't she been asking herself that very same question for the last few days? Especially after last night? Why was it so important that she help find her? A million questions that could be asked of her, and yet only one answer.

She was completely in love with Naomi.

The force of the realisation hit her hard, almost as if she had been physically struck by some unseen hand. Emily staggered back a few steps, finding it hard to breath.

Effy watched the mortal pale, stagger and then fall to her knees in the snow. "Emily? Are you alright?" She asked suddenly nervous that something was seriously wrong with her. Effy bent down and placed her hands on the smaller girl. "Emily?"

"I love her! That's what she means to me, okay? I love the way she smiles, how it starts out crooked and slowly spreads across her face and I adore the way she bites her lip when she's nervous. I love the way she's clearly an adult, but she has a childish side to her that makes you want to act that way too! I love the way she's innocent and confident all at the same time and she's not afraid to argue with me to get her point across. I love her and I can't walk away without at least telling her that!" Emily practically shouted out as Effy got down to her level.

Effy merely stared at the girl as she knelt there, panting after her verbal vomit and smirked down at her. "So what are we waiting for then?"

Emily's eyes popped in disbelief at the nerve of the woman in front of her. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Tut tut, Emily...watch the language." Effy laughed out loud as she grabbed ahold of Emily and flashed into a large room full of machines and conveyor belts, workbenches and tools.

The flash took Emily's breath away, but it only took her a minute to get her bearings as she took in the room. "Where are we?" She whispered, feeling the need for silence.

"This is the manufacturing studio." Effy glanced over to see her studying everything. "This is where Naomi and the elves makes the toys. It should be full and loud right now."

Effy was more than a bit disturbed by the quietness of the Pole. In all the years she had been coming here, she had never experienced anything quite like this.

"I didn't expect it to be so quiet." Effy said quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them. "Come on. Let's look around."

Effy led Emily through a series of corridors, stopping at each door and peeking through windows to see what was on the other side. After twenty minutes of searching, they found nothing.

"What the hell is going on here, Effy?" Emily wanted answers.

"I don't know. This is one of the most liveliest places on Earth, but Hamish must really have this place locked down. There's no way a North Pole elf would forgo their duties...," Effy trailed off, deep in thought, "that's it!"

"Have you gone _crazy_?" Emily saw the happy look on Effy's face and wondered about the girls sanity.

Effy shook her head violently. "No, but I know how Hamish plans on becoming Santa! C'mon, we've gotta find the others."

Effy grabbed Emily's hand and shut her eyes. She took them to a couple of rooms, looking for something, but Emily didn't know what, until they flashed into a large storeroom full of presents.

"Finally!" Effy stated before using her powers to locate the others and found Cook and Freddie together. She flashed into Cooks room without a word to Emily.

"I know what's going to happen!" She stated before anyone could say anything else. "And I've got a plan to stop Hamish!"

* * *

><p>"Thomo, don't go in there yet! Let's get Freddie and Cook first." Panda said nervously.<p>

Thomas and Pandora found Kieran, Gina and all the elves still loyal to Naomi, tied up and locked in a storage room. Thomas had stuck his head in and counted twenty elves guarding them all.

"Panda, we don't have time to wait. Naomi is running out of time, my love, so we need to act fast, yes?"

Thomas was about to sneak into the room when he heard a scuffle behind him. He turned and found everyone standing there. He breathed a sigh of relief before explaining what was inside the room.

Effy told them Hamish's plan and how he intended to take over. Once everyone was up to speed, they all started slipping into the room silently, one at a time, taking out Hamish's elves.

"Thank Christ you finally showed up!" Kieran stated, obvious anger in his voice, as Effy and Panda went around undoing the magical rope binding them. "Where's Naomi?" He asked looking around.

"We thought she was in here with you." Freddie replied, feeling uneasy. "You haven't seen her?"

"Of course I haven't seen her, you daft twat!" He roared as he stood up, shaking the last of the rope from around his ankles. "I wouldn't have asked!"

"Calm down, Kieran." Gina interjected, knowing he was on the verge of blowing up. "Where was she?"

"Cook left her at the barrier, because she couldn't cross it." JJ told him as he finished placing all the rebel elves under a deep sleep.

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE COULDN'T CROSS IT?_" Kieran finally blew after being humiliated by Hamish.

JJ physically cowered in front of Father Time. "She...well...she...couldn't...cross...," he started stuttering, feeling his face flush and he started sweating.

"JJ, love, you're getting locked on." Lara came up to him, placing a hand on his cheek, effectively calming him down. "Deep breath."

JJ took a few deep breaths before turning back to Kieran. "She used all of her magic and only had enough to get to the Pole, but not enough to cross the barrier." He explained, calmly, feeling pride that he had accomplished that much.

Emily and Katie were watching things with interest. Emily paying close attention to the older man and JJ.

"How did she use all of her magic?" Gina asked with the patience of a saint.

JJ, afraid to answer knowing that Kieran wouldn't take it very well, glanced at Emily quickly. "Well, she used it on...,"

"Spit it out, boy!"

"Stop, Kieran!" Effy's voice carrying a hint of steel in it. "Naomi used it on the locket that she gave to Emily."

Emily gasped as she heard that, as every head turned to her, making her feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

Freddie looked even angrier, while Cook had a look of pride, Thomo and Panda looked confused and Kieran looked fit to be tied...again. But it was Gina's face that Emily concentrated on, because she looked happy and pleased as punch, as the older woman sized up the petite red head.

Emily felt as if she was under a microscope and couldn't help but squirm and shuffle her feet.

"Hello, dear. I'm Gina, Naomi's mum." She rushed over to the girl, noticing how uncomfortable she looked. "Welcome to the North Pole. And who's this?" Gina asked as she glanced over to Katie.

"Hello, I'm Katie and this is my sister Emily."

"Hello." Gina responded with a smile. "Well, aren't you two just as cute as a button?"

"So you're telling me, that Naomi gave up all her magic? Well that's just fecking lovely!" Kieran ran his fingers through his unkempt hair in frustration, ignoring Gina's gushing. "Now what are we supposed to do? Naomi's missing and has no magic, Hamish is about to take over and we're left twiddling our thumbs!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Kieran." Effy smiled at him.

"Christmas is on the _verge_ of disappearing!" His practically shouted, his hands flailing wildly. "Even if Naomi was to be found in time, there's no presents to deliver!"

"Oh, but there _are_ presents. Hamish has been storing them away, hiding them, so that when the time comes and Naomi's nowhere to be found, he can slip into the role of Santa and deliver them. That's how he's planning to take over." Effy explained excitedly, her eyes gleaming in triumph. "What he's not counting on is us. Emily and I found all the presents, so now we just need to find Naomi, fulfil the clause and voilà!"

Thalmus came running over. "Have you checked all the storerooms and supply closets?"

"Pretty much." Cook told him, looking for confirmation from everyone else.

"Well, what about her secret stash closet?" He asked, not knowing if anyone else knew about it.

"What are you talking about, mate? What secret stash closet?" Freddie asked, looking down on the elf, thinking he was crazy.

Thalmus shook his head in disgust. "Look, I know you're a busy guy, both of you are, but she's your best mate and you don't know about the secret stash she had?"

"Thalmus, how about you take us to this closet if you know where it is, yeah?" Effy said, knowing that he would do whatever she asked him to do.

Sure enough, after leaving JJ and Lara to take control of the elves, Thalmus led the rest of them deep into Naomi's private quarters, always on the lookout for Hamish or any other elves that stood with him.

They came up to her office and heard muffled voices on the other side of the closed door. Thalmus stopped, holding up his hand to warn Effy and the rest of them, and they scooted closer to hear better.

"_I'm telling you, there are humans inside the barrier!_" One of the voices stated, clearly panicked.

Thalmus looked back and whispered to the group. "That's Alaric."

"_You're being paranoid, lad! Humans cannot get through the barrier._" Hamish responded. "_Settle down. This will all be over shortly and the Pole will go back to who it belongs to!_"

"_I don't like it, Hamish._" Alaric said, still feeling uneasy. "_Something just don't feel right._"

"Come on, guys, it's just down this way." Thalmus ushered them past the door.

"Guys, I'm gonna hang back here and see what's going on." Effy told them before going back and standing next to the office door. "Go on and find Naomi."

"I'll stay with you." Katie stated leaving no room for arguments. "Naomi's my friend too, so...,"

Effy smiled at her and they watched everyone else head down the hallway, before settling back by the door to listen.

"So what do you think is gonna happen?" Katie asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them.

"Hopefully, they'll find Naomi and then we can deal with Hamish." Effy stated, giving her answer some thought, before a smirk graced her features again. "Whatever happens, prepare for fireworks, because Kieran is a very impatient man."

One thing Effy knew for sure. By the time her and Kieran were done with that elf, he'll be begging to shine a leprechaun's boots.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, so this was suppose to be the last chapter, but I had to split it in half...so I'll be posting the other half soon, oddly enough, it's not quite finished yet:) <strong>

**But have no fear, I shall be posting an update for the other two stories in a day or two, just a couple of quick ones to get back into it, yeah?**

**Marci:)**


	6. If You Were Mine

**A/N: Hello my beautiful friends! Sorry for the delay with this one, but do you realize how hard it is to end a story? It's like really, really fucking hard!**

**So...when I got to about the 6,000 word mark, I thought...hmm, maybe I'd better end this soon...but then I got to 8,000 words and realized, shit...this is too much, I think...so, I had to split it up...so uh...this ain't the last chapter, but I will tell you this...I will post the next chapter on Friday:) **

**So it's probably possible, maybe that there could be two more chapters, but y****ou guys don't mind that...do ya?**

**All typos/grammatical errors are mine;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins...which is a shame...**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 6: If You Were Mine<span>**

Emily felt an anxiousness the further they walked, she didn't know who to trust besides the group of Naomi's friends, this elf could be leading them into a trap for all she knew. And her thoughts were constantly on Naomi. Was she hurt? Why would she use all her magic on that damn locket? More questions raced through her mind and she knew she wouldn't get any answers until they found Naomi.

"It's through here." Thalmus pointed to a door at the end of the hallway they were walking down. He opened the door a little and peeked into the room, making sure the coast was clear before ushering everyone else inside.

"Mate, this is Naomi's private quarters. If she were here, we would've known it!" Cook looked down at the elf, distrust clear in his eyes.

Thalmus sighed. "Look, I know you guys don't have any reason to trust a single elf at this point, but I love Naomi as Santa, okay? She makes being an elf fun, unlike the last one we had, who looked down on us and used us as slaves." He took a breath, calming down. "We don't all think like Hamish, alright, so please...trust me?"

"So where is this closet?" Emily stepped forward, wanting to believe the little guy, as she smiled at Cook and Freddie as she walked past them, following Thalmus.

"It's back here."

Cook and Freddie were still a little unsure, but they followed everyone else, as Thalmus opened another door that had been hidden into the woodwork of the wall. They walked down a long hallway, coming to stop just before another door.

"Has this been here this whole time?" Kieran asked, surprised.

"No, Naomi had us build it the second year she was here. She wanted a place that was hers alone, where she could store away all the comforts of home and other things." Thalmus explained, proudly. "The problem is, is that Alaric also helped build it, so he knows it's here."

Cook smiled at him. "So if you wanna hide something or _someone_ at the North Pole, what better place than a room no one knows about!"

"Exactly!" Thalmus smiled back at them. "I'm almost certain she's here, so...," he reached out and was about to grab the the door knob when Emily stopped him.

"Let me, please?" She indicated the door. Thalmus instantly understood and stepped back allowing Emily to slowly open the door. "Naomi?" She whispered, expecting her to be right there. But as the door swung open the rest of they way, she saw nothing and her heart dropped.

Emily looked back at Thalmus, a questioning look on her face and he smiled at her.

"Keep going." He stated simply, urging her on. "It's a very big closet." He reached inside and flicked a switch on the wall, filling the closet with light.

"Holy shite! This isn't a closet, this is a small house!" Freddie exclaimed, taking in all the shelves holding all kinds of goodies from home.

Kieran, Gina, Thomo and Panda all gasped at the size of the room and the contents. There was a whole set of shelves filled with Garibaldis biscuits and Twinings tea.

Gina snorted out a laugh at that. "Only my daughter, right?" She shook her head as they glanced at the other shelves. Trinkets, toys, letters, hand made cards.

It looked as if the shelves were labeled with names, so Emily went to one labeled with the name Tabitha, picked up a card that was clearly made by a child and read it.

_Dear Santa,_

_Mummy said I have to thank you for the presnts you brot me last year, so thanks_

_I made you soom cookies and lefted them by the tree_

_I hop you like them._

_Thank you for bein Santa Claus_

_I luv you_

_Tabitha_

"She kept everything!" Emily said, breathlessly, as she grabbed a couple more cards and scanned them over. "Everything she's ever received from a child, she's kept it!"

Thalmus smiled again. "That's what makes her better than any other Santa we've ever had! She cares and she's not afraid to show it!"

"Wow, mate. I'm sorry I doubted you, yeah?" Cook stated as he reached for a pack of his favourite beer, feeling touched that she would have that here.

"Yeah, yeah...come on. Let's find her and get this over with." Thalmus stated, blushing slightly.

The group split up and started searching through the rows of shelves.

* * *

><p>It took Naomi more than a few minutes to realise that the lights were on. She thought about calling out, but didn't want Hamish or Alaric near her.<p>

She had finished crying a while ago, resigned to her fate, both as Santa and with Emily. Maybe she could go back home and start a new life...maybe go back to Uni. Maybe, and this was a big maybe, try again with Emily.

As Naomi drifted through thoughts of the red head, she felt as if she was going insane, because she swore she heard Emily's voice. She smiled at the thought, sure that it was only in her head, until she heard it again, calling out her name.

"Emily?" She called out quietly, her voice hoarse from the lack of use and all the crying she'd done. Naomi took a moment to clear her throat and then tried again. "Emily!"

"_Naomi_?" Sure enough, Emily's voice floated through the shelving units, a bit louder this time.

"Emily! I'm over here!"

"_Guys, she's here_!" Emily called out to someone, Naomi didn't care who else was there, all she could concentrate on was the fact that Emily was at the North Pole. "_Somewhere around here. Naomi_?"

"I'm back here." Naomi directed her.

"_Keep talking, yeah? I'll follow the sound of your voice_."

"I'm sorry Emily. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to be close to you and...and...I'm sorry if you think I lied to you on purpose...I never meant to do that and if you were mine, I'd spend every day making it up to you," Naomi rambled on, saying everything she had thought about while she'd been locked up, "I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose...because it kills me when you're hurt...and I think...no, that's not right...I know that I love you, an-,"

Emily cut her off suddenly by covering Naomi's mouth with her own, as she wrapped her arms around the blonde and straddled her lap.

The kiss was fierce and held a passion that Naomi had never experienced before. And it seemed to last for hours, when in reality it was only a minute or two.

Neither one of them noticed when the rest of the group found them, as Emily pulled away from Naomi, smiling down at her.

"I love you too, you daft twat!" Emily stated with affection. "How 'bout we get you untied, unless you like to play rough and then I could be persuaded to...," She watched Naomi turn bright red as a few coughs sounded behind them, reminding Emily that they were, in fact, not alone.

"Hello, love." Gina piped up, trying to clear the tension in the room. "Got yourself into a bit of a pickle I see."

"Yes, thank you for noticing, mum." Naomi stated dryly, still embarrassed, as Emily gingerly got up off of her lap. "Would someone like to get me out of these ropes."

Freddie and Cook rushed over and quickly untied the magical rope holding her.

"There you go, Blondie." Cook smiled at her. "Didn't I tell you to stay put?"

"Sorry, Cookie. You know I hate to follow orders." Naomi rubbed her wrists, trying to relieve the pain in them. "How did you guys find me?"

"I did. I figured they still didn't know about the room, so I brought them." Thalmus stepped forward to explain.

Naomi felt relief rush through her as she saw the elf. "Thank you, Thalmus. So...what now?"

Kieran stepped forward to answer that question. "Now we deal with Hamish and his lackeys." He turned and strode out of the room, a legendary figure on a mission, leaving the rest to follow him.

* * *

><p>"Whatdya think is gonna happen to him?" Katie asked again quietly, indicating toward the door with her head.<p>

"I'm more than positive that Kieran has already got that planned out, we just have to make sure that Hamish doesn't find out that we're looking for Naomi. Something's gonna happen soon though, it's actually almost Christmas Eve."

"What does that mean? What happens then?" Katie asked, feeling a panic come over her.

"It just means that, Naomi would normally have had everything ready and would've been gone by now, ya know? She always liked to get a decent head start on the night, that way she wasn't rushing." Effy explained, while still listening to Hamish and Alaric on the other side of the door.

She was about to say more, but the sight of Kieran storming down the hallway followed by Naomi and everyone else made her stop.

"Out of my way, lass!"

"Kieran, thin-," Effy stood in front of the door, trying to calm him down.

"_Now!_"

"You'd better do as he says dear, he's a tad bit grumpy at the moment."

Gina stated it so calmly, that Emily was beginning to wonder if anything shook this woman up.

"Nothing does." Naomi leaned over to whisper in her ear.

Emily jumped a bit. "What?"

"You wondered if anything bothered my mum." Naomi smirked at her, losing herself in the way Emily's eyes twinkled.

"Did you read my mind?" Emily realised what had happened, more than a bit disturbed by that thought.

"I didn't mean to, and before you even ask, no...I've never done it before. I couldn't do it before." Naomi stated firmly. She didn't want to hide anything else from her and she was determined to tell her the truth from now on if Emily was willing to give her a second chance.

Emily quickly glanced at everyone else, before turning back to Naomi. "Why?" she wondered.

"Why what?"

"Why couldn't you do it before?" Emily clarified her question.

Naomi looked deep into her chocolate coloured eyes and smiled. "Because you didn't believe in me before, Ems."

Emily felt her heart flutter as she stared back into Naomi's clear blue eyes. She was about to say something else or reach out and kiss her or possibly drag her through one of the million doors they'd been passing on the way to wherever they were going, but a shout grabbed her attention.

She turned in time to see the older guy, Kieran raise his arms.

"I'm telling you for the last time, get out of my way, Effy!"

Emily didn't think she'd ever seen anyone that mad before, his face was all red and a large vein had popped out on his forehead.

Effy really had no choice but to do as she was told. Kieran was the higher power after all, so she shrugged and stepped aside and watched as he threw his arms out toward the door, causing it to blow off its hinges and splinter into a million pieces.

The noise and explosion inside the room startled Hamish, Alaric and the few elves that were inside the room.

"_YOU_!" Kieran stepped inside Naomi's office and stormed over to where Hamish was standing behind the desk. Kieran once again threw his arm out and clenched his fingers as if he was grabbing ahold of something.

Emily watched as a burly looking elf was suddenly lifted off the floor and floated through the air, coming closer to them.

"_HOW DARE YOU? What the bloody hell did you think you would accomplish?_" Kieran had never been so angry in his entire existence, and he had been around a long, _long_ time. He wanted to choke the life out of this elf. "I'm giving you one chance to explain yourself and it'd better be good!"

Naomi and Effy came to stand with Kieran as Hamish sneered at the blonde.

"She shouldn't be Santa Claus! It's not right, a human, a _female human_ at that. It goes against everything we stand for here at the Pole!" Hamish spat out as he hovered in the air still.

"And you make the rules now, do you?" Effy questioned with a deadly calm about her, never one to shout, unlike Kieran. "She fulfilled the clause, Hamish, that's all that matters. Naomi does her job."

"But she's a human!" He spit out.

"_SO WHAT?_ There is nothing stating that only an immortal can be a legendary figure!" Kieran was losing what little patience he had left, and was about to end this all.

"What have I ever done to you to deserve this?" Naomi asked, pleading with the elf, wanting to know.

Hamish sneered again before answering. "You're undisciplined, you never take anything seriously and you're a woman. And have I mentioned you're hum-,"

"Yes, human...I get it, but I do my job, Hamish and I _love_ my job." Naomi was practically begging him to understand.

Hamish did his best to shrug off her response. "Are we forgetting about the Mrs Clause?" He pointed out with a smirk. "You'll never pull that off. I've heard Sandman and Cupid talk enough to know that you've got no experience with women whatsoever, so...," he let the implication hang in the air, watching as Freddie and Cook squirmed.

"We never said no such thing, mate!" Cook replied.

Naomi turned to smile at her friends, giving them a look telling them she wasn't mad. "It's alright, Cook." She turned back to Hamish. "You're right, I've not ever had a girlfriend, never dated, hell I barely figured out I was gay when I became Santa, so you tell me how I'm supposed to get experience when all I've done for the last thirty years is build toys and play with elves?" The calm that had descended over her when Emily showed up was disappearing, to be replaced by the anger at having been tied up.

"That doesn't change the fact that you'll never find and marry someone before the stroke of Christmas Eve."

Murmurs rippled through the small crowd of people, as they all realised that Hamish was right, it was close to time for Santa to be off. Emily had silently watched everything, until Hamish's words finally hit her.

"Um...Marry? What's he talking about?" Emily asked nervously, watching as Naomi blushed and everyone else looked sheepishly around, avoiding her eyes. "Someone wanna fill me in here?"

Effy swallowed as she realised that they never actually told her about the Mrs Clause. "Well...um, that's why Naomi was in Bristol...she has to...," she didn't know how to explain.

"I have to get married in order to keep being Santa." Naomi said, looking at the red head as she shifted from foot to foot.

Emily thought about it and honestly couldn't find anything wrong with that. She could see herself settled down with Naomi. "Oh...well, I'm sure in a few years we'll get there, right?"

Naomi watched as a smile graced Emily's features, before shaking her head sadly. "By Christmas Eve, Ems."

Emily still wasn't catching on as she nodded along with Naomi's declaration. "Right, yeah...a christmas wedding...that sounds love-,"

"She means in two hours, you daft cow!" Katie piped up, rolling her eyes at her sister.

The fear shot throughout Emily's body as she finally understood. "Oh." One word, said simply, but meaning so much.

"Yeah." Naomi knew it was too much for Emily to handle.

"See? I told you and now everything will be ruined!" Hamish spoke up, watching everything in disgust.

"I've had it with you." Kieran said, forcing Hamish closer to him. "You've never known when to keep your mouth shut and it's going to cost you."

Kieran started toward the door as Freddie, Cook and Thomo drug the rest of the elves along behind him.

"Effy! Meet me in the main room when this is done." Kieran told her as he left the room, leaving her, Naomi and Emily, along with Panda, Katie and Gina.

Naomi closed her eyes, trying to block out the look of fear on Emily's face, and sighed deeply.

"Is what he said true?" Emily asked.

"What?" Naomi's eyes opened quickly at the sound of her husky voice.

"What Hamish said about your...uh, your inexperience...,"

Naomi felt her face heat up, knowing that this was always bound to be an issue. "Yes."

"And just exactly what was your grand plan, Nai?" Katie asked, finding this a touch too funny. "Hoping to pick up some random chick and drag her back here?"

Despite being totally embarrassed by the situation, Naomi heard the amusement in Katie's voice and couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "I hadn't really thought that part through, Katie. To be honest, I was instantly distracted when I met your sister."

Katie and Effy laughed, followed by Panda and Gina, but Emily couldn't stop the blush that worked its way across her face. Naomi watched her intently, trying to gauge her reaction to everything.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Ems. I knows it's a lot to take in, and quite frankly, the thought of marriage wasn't the first thing on my mind when I met you." Naomi said quietly.

"What was?" Emily grinned at her.

"Oh...well...there were a number of fantasies, involving you and me and a can of caramel sauce," Naomi loved making the red head blush, "but really, once we started hanging out, I just wanted to get to know you better."

Emily nodded her head, still thinking about the whole idea of marriage...marriage to Naomi, no...marriage to Santa Claus. "What happens if you don't get married? Let's just say I don't want to get married, but I still want to be with you, what happens?" She asked because she needed to know.

Naomi's face fell, the small hope that she was harbouring dissipated. "If I don't fulfill the clause and if no one steps in as Santa, Christmas disappears, children will stop believing in Legendary Figures, and we all lose our jobs, well most of us will."

"Whoa...so no pressure or anything, right?" Emily felt as if all the air in the room had been suck out, leaving it hard to breathe.

"No, Emily...there is no pressure at all. I don't want you to think I'm trying to push you into something you don't wanna do, okay?" Naomi tried to reassure her. "I know it's a lot to take in. And it may be something that you've never thought about, so...,"

Emily loved it when Naomi rambled on. She found it adorable, but Naomi was right. It was a lot to take it and she was having trouble wrapping her head around it, even though her heart had already decided, if the way it was beating was anything to go by.

"How about we go and see what Kieran has planned for Hamish and Alaric?" Effy needed to do something to break the tension that settled around the two girls.

Naomi broke her gaze from Emily, and the red head smiled slightly at the distraction. "Yeah...uh, sounds good Effy." Naomi replied, as she started toward the main room, leaving everyone standing there. She needed a minute to think, to get her bearings back, a minute to not be embarrassed.

Emily watched her walk away and suddenly felt guilty again, just like she did for the way she treated Naomi the night of her Christmas party. She saw the look of hurt in Naomi's eyes but didn't know how to make it go away.

Well, actually that wasn't true. She did know how to make it go away, but this was the hugest decision she'd ever been faced with and she just wished she'd had time to think it through properly. She waited until Katie, Effy and Panda followed Naomi, not realising that that left her with Gina.

"You're scared."

The sound of her voice startled Emily, making her jump a bit, before she turned to look at the older woman.

"Excuse me?"

Gina chuckled, noticing the way she tried to deflect from the question at hand. "You're scared, of what this all really means, who Naomi is and who you'll become if you agree."

"You're not reading my mind too, are you?" Emily asked with a certain amount of trepidation.

Gina laughed at the question. "No, love...I'm reading your face. But I wish I was able to read minds. That would have come in handy when Naomi was a teenager." She laughed again, quickly putting Emily at ease.

"So how do you handle all of this?"

"With a thankfulness beyond belief." Gina told her and then smiled as Emily looked more confused. "She was missing for a year. That first year she was Santa, I thought she had been kidnapped, but then I remembered how snarky and mardy she can be, any kidnapper would have returned her just to get some peace! So then I started thinking the worst."

"Oh." Emily said quietly, thinking about this mother fearing her child was dead.

"So when Effy had come to me and brought me here? Seeing Naomi for the first time in a year?" Gina pointed out the obvious, smiling when she saw Emily catch on.

"Thankfulness."

"Exactly! It didn't take me long at all to settle into my new life up here, and I go back on occasions to visit friends...or well, I did do, until they all started kicking the bucket on me." Gina winked at her, making Emily laugh. "So I get that you're scared, having just found out that the girl you like is Santa Claus...that's more than a bit daunting."

Emily laughed at her choice of words, shaking her head. "Just a little bit, yeah. But if I do this, if I say yes, I'll be giving up everything. And is that something I want to do at my age? Give up the life I've built? The job I've worked so hard for? My family and friends?" She started pacing in front of the older woman, unsure thoughts filling her mind.

"Emily?" Gina watched as the young woman wound herself tighter than a dime store watch. "Emily?" The girl was now muttering to herself, so Gina grasped her by the shoulders, bring her to a stop in front of her. "_Emily_! Calm down, love. Getting worked up won't solve anything."

Emily swallowed nervously, before nodding at Gina's words. "No, you're right...,"

"What do you think would be expected of you if you said yes? Do you think you'll be expected to just sit here and do nothing?" Gina had a way of sorting out the simple things and pointing out the obvious. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a teacher."

"Oh how lovely, dear. Well done, you!" Gina smiled at the young girl. "You know, we have a school here at the Pole."

Emily blinked in surprise at Gina, not expecting to hear that, but before Emily could say anything, Gina shook her head and stepped closer to Emily.

"Let's go and see what's happening, shall we?" Gina linked her arm through Emily's and led her to the main room. "I love watching Kieran get all Father Time on everyone...he's kinda hot when he goes all out Legendary Figure on me."

Gina laughed as Emily cringed at the imagine of the older woman hot and bothered by the Father Time.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who has sticking with me on this one:)<strong>

**Love to you all,**

**marci**


	7. Punishments, Matrimony and Christmas Eve

**A/N: hello my lovelies:) long time no see...**

**As promised, it's Friday...so...um, yeah:) **

**Okay, first I'd like to give a shout to garden-nomes, because...well, she's awesome, isn't she? Repeat after me...Nomesy is Awesome! She was also the only one to point out my nod to her in the last chapter, so I demand that you all go back and read her seriously sexy series of stories..(try and say that as fast as you can five times in a row...heheheheheheh)... "The Secret Life of Emily Fitch", "The Awakening of Naomi Campbell" and her new one, "The Dual Confessions That Bind Us", to reacquaint yourselves with her brand of Naomily sexiness;)...and don't worry Nomes, I'm still reading, it's just that it's hard to stand outside, making use of my Cigarette Warning when it's -22 below outside, I'm just saying...**

**Also, I've gotta send some Soupy loving to Michelle1017, andthewearybegs, KayEff, JimVonJam and Jennsch...you all are the best:) and I hope this meets your expectations.**

**typos and grammatical errors are totally my fault...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins in anyway, shape or form...what I do own however, is an extensive collection thermal undershirts, that I've had to put to good use these last couple of days, because I don't know if I've mentioned that it's freaking cold here!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 7: Punishments, Matrimony and Christmas Eve<span>**

Kieran and Effy were standing at the head of the room, with Naomi and the rest of the Legendary Figures standing behind them. Hamish was placed in front of them, along with the elves that were helping him, and the rest of the residents of the Pole were assembled all over the room.

Emily gasped loudly as Gina led her into the room and she saw hundreds of the magical beings, as one by one, they all started parting to let her through. Whispers followed the older woman and the red head, as the news of who Emily was started spreading amongst the elves.

"Hamish. You are being charged with rebellion and ploting to overthrow Santa Claus. You have held Legendary Figures against their will. What do you have to say for yourself?" Kieran's voice took on an otherworldly tone as he questioned the rouge elf.

Effy walked closer to Hamish, as he remained quiet. "Don't mess with me, Hamish! I'm pre-El Ninó, so I'd start talking if I were you." She warned him, causing Naomi and the group behind Effy to giggle.

Hamish stepped forward. "I'd do it all over again. I take no shame in trying to take back the North Pole from this human."

Kieran gave Hamish an evil look, really hating the smug little fecker. "I thought you'd say that...," he turned to glare at Hamish's band of merry helpers, "and what about you?"

Alaric stepped forward, knowing there was really no way to get out of the mess that they all blindly followed Hamish into. "I was the one who tied up Santa. I stood by Hamish, but I did it willingly. I do not however share his sentiment, and I would not do it all over again." He stated clearly, knowing that being honest and owning up to what he did wouldn't hurt him, but lying to Father Time would. He glanced over to Naomi and smiled sadly. "Santa, I have nothing personal against you. I actually share the same feelings as most of the elves here. You've been a great Santa, and I hope one day you'll forgive me for this."

Alaric stepped back behind Hamish, allowing the other elves to say their piece. Once they were all done, Kieran cleared his throat. "Alaric, you and the rest of the elves have shown remorse for your actions, even so, Mother Nature and myself cannot allow this type of behaviour from faeries to go unpunished." Alaric and the rest of them sighed. "So, I sentence you all to ten years on Earth under the watch of Dvalinn."

About twenty-five elves gasped and groaned as Kieran told them of their fate. Dvalinn was the High Dwarf that reigned over all dwarves. Alaric knew that they could very well end up digging in the earth for the next ten years.

"Do we get to come home after?" One of the other elves asked, hopeful.

"That will be at the discretion of Santa." Kieran informed him, before turning back to Hamish. "But _you_," Kieran growled at the older elf, "you should have known better, boyo! You're punishment will be far worse." Kieran took pleasure in watching him swallow hard, as he started to fidget. "Not so cocksure of yourself now, are you?"

"I've got this one, Kieran." Effy said, placing a hand on Kieran's arm, walking toward Hamish. "You've been very naughty, Hamish," she told him, causing Naomi to snicker behind her but she ignored it, "I've got a very special surprise for you. My friend Iubdan needs an assistant," Hamish scowled at the name of the leprechaun king and Effy smirked, "so you know who he is, that's good...you're going to be spending a lot of time with him."

Hamish blanched at the thought. If there was one race of faeries that the North Pole elves didn't get along with, it was the leprechauns. "How...much...time?" He asked, hesitantly.

"I wouldn't let that concern you, Hamish. Maybe next time you'll think before you act." Effy told him. "The punishments start now." She stated loud and clear, and with a flick of her wrist, the banished elves were gone.

A loud cheer went through the room as the rest of the elves applauded and started chanting "Santa". Emily stood with Katie and Gina, watching the entire scene and noticed everyone started looking at her again.

Naomi made her way over to were Emily and Katie were standing with her mum. Just as she got to them, she caught sight of the look in Emily's eyes. It was a look full of wonder with a bit of fear.

"Hey." Naomi said as she came to stop in front of them.

Emilys eyes brightened as she smiled at the blonde. "That was...eventful."

Naomi laughed and was about to respond when she felt a tug at the bottom of her shirt. She looked down to see the smile of Areth, one of the youngest elves at the Pole, beaming at her. Naomi bent down and scooped her up into her arms and cuddled her. "Whatdya want, little sprite?"

Areth blushed. "Noomi, who's that?" The little girl asked shyly, pointing to Katie and Emily, who couldn't help but smile as Naomi held the toddler.

"That's my friend, Katie and her sister, Emily." Naomi said with a smirk. "Katie, Emily...this little poppet is Areth."

The twins said hello, and Emily felt a bit disappointed because Naomi didn't call her a friend.

"Noomi, isn't Emily your friend too?" Areth asked in confusion and Naomi smiled at her with affection. Areth had only just been born the year before Naomi became Santa Claus, so she felt a special bond with the baby elf.

Emily watched as Areth asked her question, feeling herself blush, as Naomi smiled at the little girl.

"Well, Areth...Emily is more than a friend...she's a special friend." Naomi explained, glancing over at the red head.

Areth wriggled out of Naomi's arms and ran over to Emily. "Hello." Areth smiled up at her.

"Hello, sweetie." Emily replied, crouching down to meet the toddler eye to eye. "Aren't you just adorable? Isn't she just adorable, Katie?"

"She sure is. She kinda reminds me of James when he was her age." Katie stated, as she too got down to look Areth in the eye. "How old are you, sweetie?"

"I'm firty-one." Areth stated proudly, unable to correctly pronounce the word '_thirty_'. "Noomi's teached me my letters and numbers."

Katie and Emily both smiled at the girl, as she turned and went back to Naomi, holding her arms up so Naomi could hold her again.

"I hate to break up the lovefest, lass, but we have to figure out what's to be done." Kieran said as he waved his hand through the air, producing an hourglass, the sands of time slowly draining. "We're running out of time."

Almost everyone, including Katie, looked expectantly at Emily. She felt put on the spot, trapped really, and she could feel a fear clawing at her. The only one who didn't look at her that way, was Naomi. The blonde kept her eyes locked on Emily's, nothing but love shining through, as she held onto the little elf.

Emily could hear everyone talking around her, but she couldn't make out anything that was being said, because her focus was on Naomi and Areth, as the two of them had a whispered conversation.

"Emily?"

The red head felt something dig into her side, breaking her out of her daze, as she blinked rapidly and looked around."Yes? What?"

Katie smirked at her and rolled her eyes. "Um, you're being asked a very important question?" The older twin spat out, as Effy, Cook and Freddie watched.

"Well, forgive me for having _things_ on my mind, Katie!" Emily stated in a huff.

"Yeah, well...this is kinda important, ya know!" Katie replied back just as grumpy.

Emily turned to Katie, prepared to have a go at her, but Naomi interrupted.

"Leave her alone, guys!" Everyone turned to the blonde, as she stepped in front of Emily. "Harassing her is not going to make her decide."

"Nai, you need to finish this or," Effy stepped over to them, "you need to step down."

"She's right, love." Gina put her two cents in, watching the red head and her daughter. "If you don't get married, you know what'll happen."

Naomi felt her anger rise. "Yes! I know, alright! Everyone harping on the subject doesn't help, though!" She said through clenched teeth, as she turned to Emily, setting Areth down. "Listen to me, Ems," Emily had been looking around the room, like a caged animal, the fear that Naomi hated, clear on her face, "I know I've messed up, okay? But I wasn't lying when I said I love you. And I didn't just say it so that you'd marry me. I said it because I meant it."

Emily nodded at her, entranced by the sound of Naomi's voice, encouraging her to continue.

Naomi smiled, and reached her hand into one of her pockets. "I know how unromantic it is to find out the girl you've been seeing has to get married in order to keep her job," Emily tried to hold in a laugh at that, making Naomi's smile grow, "and I _know_ I haven't done anything the right way, but Ems...,"

Emily watched in shock as Naomi got down on bended knee, pulling a small velvet bag out of her pocket, while Katie squealed in delight behind her, and excited murmurs flowed throughout the crowd.

"Emily, I'm pretty sure I fell in love with you when you were fifteen and I tried my best to make sure your heart didn't get broken back then. And if all of this seems to be too much for you, being here, me being Santa, then I'll gladly step aside and let someone else take over," Emily's eyes widened, as cries and gasps erupted from the elves but Naomi went on, "if that's what you wanted. If you were mine, I'd spend the rest of my life making you as happy as I possibly could," Naomi opened the velvet bag and emptied the contents into her hand, "so, Emily Fitch, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Katie, Effy and Panda were standing behind Emily, crying while Thomas, Cook and Freddie stood behind Naomi, grinning widely.

"I never thought I'd see this day." Gina whispered to Kieran, as she cuddled closer to him.

"I wouldn't get too excited, love...the poor girl hasn't said yes yet." He whispered back to her, making Gina chuckle.

It all came back to Emily, as she stood rooted to her spot, Naomi down in front of her. She couldn't pretend that she didn't love Naomi, because she did, and she wouldn't deny that the thought of giving everything up scared the shit out of her, because it did. But one thing played on her mind, so she decided to ask.

"Why did you use all your magic on the locket?"

Naomi blinked, not expecting the question. "What?"

"JJ and Effy said you used the rest of your magic on the locket, and that's why you couldn't cross the barrier...why did you do that?" Emily questioned again. "Why would you give this up? If I said yes and told you I couldn't stay here, why would you leave this place?"

Naomi looked into Emily's eyes, and without thinking, answered her. "I put the magic in the locket because I didn't want you to be unhappy. To be honest, Emily, I didn't think I'd ever see you again and I knew that locket was the only link I would have with you, however small a link it was. I just wanted to make it possible that every time you touched it, it would make you happy." Naomi explained. "As for why I would give this up, that's simple. Because you're worth it, Ems."

The tears came as Emily stood there, with Naomi down on her knees. "No one has ever told me that before. No one's ever offered to give up everything they know just for me." She said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's a big thing you're asking of me, Naoms. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing, while your playing toy maker...,"

Effy, Freddie and Cook all smirked at each other, hearing something in Emily's voice, that made them think everything was going to be alright.

"I'd have to be doing something too, ya know. And you'd have to meet my parents and the rest of my family, Naomi, that's not negotiable. And we'd have to tell my parents the truth, even if I don't tell anyone else, they have to know, yeah? As much as my mother and I don't get along, I couldn't stand it if she thought something had happened to me."

Naomi's head shot up as she finally understood what Emily was saying, to see her little red head standing there with her hands on her hips. "So...does...are...wait, what?"

"I think teaching the younger elves would be a good use of my time, don't you, Naoms?" Emily had a gleam in her eye, as she watched Naomi start to smile up at her.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Naomi asked hopefully, as she waited.

"Yes." Emily responded, causing the elves to go wild with cheers. "Yes, Naomi...Santa Claus," she smirked down at the blonde, "...I'll marry you."

Katie and Panda screamed in joy while everyone else started applauding, as Naomi slipped the ring that had been in her family for generations onto Emily's finger.

"It belonged to my great-great-grandmother, and it's traveled down through the family to me. It was the last thing my father gave to me before he left." Naomi explained as she kissed Emily's hand after putting it on. "I've been carrying it around with me for a week, just waiting for the right moment to give it to you."

Katie run up to them both and gave them a hug, squeezing the air out of them. "This is awesome!"

"I'm glad you think so, Katiekins, but do you think you could let go now, so I can breath?" Naomi asked, because lack of oxygen was actually becoming an issue.

"Oh, yeah...right! Sorry." Katie let them go, a sheepish smile on her face.

Naomi gave a smile in return, before looking back at Emily. "Not that I'm not grateful, Ems, but why?"

Emily knew exactly what Naomi was asking and she had her answer on the tip of her tongue. "Because I love you and I can see how much you love what you do. Also, when I stopped believing in you, all those years ago, you never stopped believing in me, Naoms." She tried her best to explain. "And...you were willing to give all of this up for me. That's huge!"

Naomi felt tears stinging her eyes and tried so hard to not let them fall, but she knew she failed when Emily stepped into her personal bubble, lifted her hand and wiped them away. "I'm sorry, I'm always a bit more emotional around this time of year." Naomi told her.

"Don't apologise for showing me who you are, Naoms. I've come to find that I love that about you, yeah?" Emily whispered as she reached up, placing a kiss at the corner of her lips. "I wouldn't change a single thing about you."

Naomi was about to lean in to kiss her fully when Kieran tapped her on the shoulder.

"Sorry, Nai, but we have exactly, thirty-four minutes to fulfil the clause, so...," Father Time looked extremely uncomfortable, as he kept looking at the hourglass still floating in the air, "could we hurry this up?"

"Are you ready, Miss Claus?" Emily asked smiling at Naomi, as she took hold of her hand and linked their fingers together.

Naomi smiled at her. "As ready as I'll ever be, future Mrs Claus." She replied with a grin on her face.

* * *

><p>Effy and Naomi stood at the top of the Grand Stairs, in the middle of the main room, with Cook, Freddie, JJ and Thomas stood next to the blonde, while most of her elves stood at the bottom.<p>

Kieran had to freeze time, because Katie almost drove him crazy, whining on and pouting about the lack of a real wedding, and how their mum would be so ashamed, she was a wedding planner after all, and on and on she went, until Kieran froze time to shut her up.

_"I can only give you thirty extra minutes." Kieran had informed Naomi and Emily while Effy looked on. "That'll give the Queen over there," he nodded toward where Katie was standing, looking triumphant, "a chance to whip up _something wonderful_!" he stated, adopting a high pitched girly voice._

When Emily questioned why he could only do a half hour instead twenty-four hours, Kieran explained that the fabric of time could only be interuppted at intervals of thirty minutes, anything more than that would alter the fate of the world and besides that, he wasn't supposed to be helping at all. He was severely tempted to banish Katie to the Netherworld as a banshee, but thankfully, Kieran relented when Naomi pointed out that it wouldn't look good on her if something happened to her future sister-in-law.

So while Thalmus and JJ took that half hour and gathered up a handful of elves to ready the sleigh, everyone else prepared for a wedding. Gina had offered to walk Emily down the aisle, in lieu of her parents, while Lara, Panda and Katie would stand with her.

It was actually amazing what Katie could get accomplished in twenty minutes with a handful of Legendary Figures totally at her disposal. She was quite proud of herself and even more so when she stood at the top of the steps on the other side of Effy, lined up with the other girls, and saw Emily's face as Gina led her up the steps. When she turned and caught Naomi's eye, she smiled through her tears as the blonde mouthed a silent "Thank you." and Katie knew Emily wouldn't find anyone better.

When Emily reached the top of the stairs, she smiled shyly at Naomi, as the blonde took her hand and they faced Effy who, with a slight nod from Naomi, began the ceremony.

"We gather here today, at this moment, to join Naomi Sunflower Campbell," Naomi overlooked the snickers and giggles from Katie, "...and Emily Rebekah Fitch in marriage."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later Effy, having hurried things along, wrapped up the ceremony.<p>

"I've seen a lot of things, some wonderful things, some horrible things, in my years as Mother Nature. But when I look at the two of you, I see a love that shines so bright, it's almost blinding. Its a rare gift that you two have and I can only hope that you'll both cherish it. It is my honor and privilege to pronounce you united as one in love and marriage. You may both kiss your beautiful Bride!"

Applause and cheers once again broke out, as Naomi reached out for Emily and kissed her with all the love she felt at this moment.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Mrs and Mrs Claus!"

Freddie and Cook scooped up both girls and carried them down the stairs, neither one of them ever believing they see this day when their best friend was the happiest she'd ever been.

"Alright, alright!" Naomi called out. "Put us down, you twats!" She said laughing.

"I'm just so...so...well, I'm down right _fucking_ happy for ya, Blondie!" Cook stated, crushing her in a hug.

"Alright, Cupid, let her go," Freddie smiled at his mates, "it's my turn now." So Cook released Naomi and turned to hug Emily.

"Welcome to the family, love." He said with tears in his eyes, as he held her tight.

"Thank you, Cook." She replied into his shoulder, when a thought hit her. "Um...Cook?"

He pulled away to look at her. "Yeah?"

"You didn't...uh, well...you know...help Naomi out, did you?" She felt really stupid for asking, but she felt she needed to know.

Cook grinned his wide grin, as he shook his head. "Believe me when I say that this is all you and Blondie. I wasn't allowed to help, was I? Don't get me wrong," his grin changed into a sincere smile, as he looked over at Naomi, "I would've shot you both with an arrow if you hadn't sorted your shit out, no matter _what_ The Powers that Be said about it!"

"I'm sorry to ask...," she smiled at him, shyly, "but I just had to be sure."

Cook chuckled, and was about to say something, when Thalmus came running into the room, calling for Santa.

"Santa!" The elf skidded to a stop in front of Naomi. "Sorry...but...it's time...," he panted, as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yes...you're absolutely right...," Naomi trailed off, looking at Emily, "I'm sorry, Ems, but I have to go." She said, a hint of sadness filling her voice, as she thought about how she really wanted to be wedding night.

Emily looked a bit sad as well, but then smiled at her, then leaned in to give her a kiss. "I understand, Naoms. Christmas depends on you, yeah?" She said as she pulled away. "I'll still be here when you get back. I'm sure your mum can use the time to fill me in on your teenage years."

Gina winked at the red head, while Naomi grimaced at the thought.

"How about you come see me off?" Naomi asked and Emily nodded.

* * *

><p>"Alright Mrs Claus," Naomi climbed up into her sleigh, and smiled down at Emily, "you may want to get some rest tonight, because tomorrow is the start of my four month holiday. I'm thinking sun and sand and drinks on the beach...maybe you and me in bikinis?"<p>

They could hear Cook howling in laughter behind them, but Emily decided to ignore him as she jumped up and planted one last kiss on Naomi's lips. Katie had to pull Emily down, because there was a real possibility of Naomi not leaving at all.

"I'm going now, but think about where you'd wanna go. You and Katie can stay in my quarters, and everyone will keep you company, so you won't be _alone_ alone...,"

Emily laughed, she really loved it when Naomi rambled, she found it so adorable the way the blonde's face would blush. "Stop. Just go already, yeah? It won't be my fault if you miss Christmas."

"God, I love you." Naomi told her, before hitting a button on her sleigh that started the engine.

"Um, Naomi?" Katie called out, over the sound of the sleigh. "Aren't you supposed to have eight reindeer?"

The blonde laughed along with the other Legendary Figures. "That was so eighteenth century. We do know how to modernise, ya know." Naomi told a blushing Katie. "Wish me luck."

With that, Naomi grabbed the controls and pulled back, propelling the sleigh forward. Emily and Katie watched as she drove down what looked like a long runway, then flipped a u-turn and started back toward them at full speed.

"You might want to step back, dear." Gina told Emily, as she stood at the edge and watched.

"What?" Emily was too focused on Naomi and didn't quite understand, until Gina gripped her arm and pulled her away from the runway, just as the sleigh flew past and lifted up, the air swirling around them, as if they were standing in the middle of a tornado.

Emily continued to watch as the sleigh got higher and higher with a smile on her face. She realised how much her life had changed in the last couple of weeks, and felt a warmth surge.

"_I LOVE YOU, EMILY FITCH!_"

She laughed as she heard Naomi's voice drift down to her, but then a thought occurred to her. "IT'S EMILY CAMPBELL-FITCH!" She shouted back to her, smiling widely as Naomi's laughter filled her ears. '_And I love you too._' She thought to herself, knowing that Naomi would hear it as Emily followed Katie, Gina and Effy.

"C'mon Red! It's time to go mental!" Cook shouted from the Middle of the room, a bottle of beer in his hands that he and Freddie brought out of Naomi's stash closet.

Well, she did just get married after all, so it was expected that she enjoy the party, she thought as she followed Cupid demand to celebrate.

One thing was certain, Emily was definitely going to enjoy getting Santa Claus alone tomorrow night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: alright...man I'm tired:) **

**Well? I am super nervous about this chapter, so please let me know what you think, yeah?**

**Thanks to everyone reading and following:)**

**Marci :D**


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